totter

[tot-er]

verb (used without object)

1. to walk or go with faltering, unsteady steps.

   She tottered down the street in high heels, desperately fighting to stay vertical.

2. to sway or rock on the base or ground, as if about to fall.

   The tower seemed to totter in the wind.

   Synonyms: waver

3. to shake or tremble.

   a load that tottered.

   Synonyms: quiver, oscillate

4. to lack security or stability; threaten to collapse.

   The government was tottering.

noun

1. the act of tottering; an unsteady movement or gait.

totter

/ ˈtɒtə /

verb

1. to walk or move in an unsteady manner, as from old age

2. to sway or shake as if about to fall

3. to be failing, unstable, or precarious

noun

1. the act or an instance of tottering

Other Word Forms

• totterer noun
• totteringly adverb
• tottery adjective
• tottering adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of totter¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English toteren “to swing”; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of totter¹

C12: perhaps from Old English tealtrian to waver, and Middle Dutch touteren to stagger

Synonym Study

See stagger.

Example Sentences

“This is . . . an unfortunate misunderstanding,” she said, tottering.

Read more on Literature

Alexander tottered about the room, spun in a circle, and fell to the floor.

Read more on Literature

Coaxed and tugged by rangers, a blindfolded giraffe totters into the specialised vehicle that will transport it away from an increasingly hostile environment to a new home in Kenya's eastern Rift Valley.

Read more on Barron's

He regularly held Saturday morning sessions with experts on the tottering Soviet empire and led the George H.W.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

If New York falls, the entire free world may again totter on its foundations.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• careen 
• lurch 
• teeter 
• wobble