shaky

[ shey-kee ]

adjective

, shak·i·er, shak·i·est.

1. tending to shake or tremble.
2. trembling; tremulous.
3. liable to break down or give way; insecure; not to be depended upon:

   a shaky bridge.

4. wavering, as in allegiance:

   His loyalty, always shaky, was now nonexistent.

shaky

/ ˈʃeɪkɪ /

adjective

1. tending to shake or tremble
2. liable to prove defective; unreliable
3. uncertain or questionable

   your arguments are very shaky

Derived Forms

• ˈshakily, adverb
• ˈshakiness, noun

Other Words From

• shaki·ly adverb
• shaki·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of shaky¹

First recorded in 1695–1705; shake + -y ¹

Example Sentences

Others will reflect the shaky scrawls of a woman who struggled to hold a pen steady.

From Washington Post

Beijing might say yes, pointing to the shaky loyalty of the population.

From Time

The lawyer who spoke to him that day remembered his voice sounding shaky, his words coming too fast to understand.

From Washington Post

It’s an attempt to balance a lot of what the government views as shaky forces.

From MIT Technology Review

Egeland had just visited Um Rakuba, a refugee camp in the eastern part of Sudan, and — over a somewhat shaky connection — he shared what he’d seen there and his concerns about the potential for a deepening catastrophe in the region.

From Vox

Never mind that some of the atmospherics are shaky, like the white Christmas, for example.

From The Daily Beast

And even The Lancet and Nature publish their share of shaky studies.

From The Daily Beast

Its addictive “sidebar of shame” catalogues every celebrity roll of fat, fashion faux pas, and shaky early-morning nightclub exit.

From The Daily Beast

Law enforcement officials started with the proposition that Cope was guilty because of his shaky “confessions.”

From The Daily Beast

After his shaky hosting—sorry gays—Hugh Jackman is indubitably straight.

From The Daily Beast

I'm rather shaky on my pins yet and the chair it must be, if I'm to put myself in connection with that lounge.

From Project Gutenberg

It came at last, not like anything Peter had ever heard, and was more like a howl than a cry, for "Shaky; me wants Shaky."

From Project Gutenberg

But he held his tongue, and tried to make up to the little girl her loss of Shaky, for whom she cried for days.

From Project Gutenberg

He was terribly white and shaky, and he seemed to have some difficulty in getting out his words.

From Project Gutenberg

They grew more shaky and more illegible towards the end, but they were sufficient to make the truth absolutely clear.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• insecure
• jittery
• nervous
• precarious
• rickety
• rocky
• unsettled
• unstable
• unsteady
• weak
• wobbly