tottering
[ tot-er-ing ]
/ ˈtɒt ər ɪŋ /
adjective
walking unsteadily or shakily.
lacking security or stability; threatening to collapse; precarious: a tottering empire.
RELATED WORDS
unsettled, vacillating, dizzy, moving, wavering, suspect, fluctuating, weaving, teetering, loose, exposed, rootless, ambiguous, borderline, capricious, changeable, dubious, erratic, fickle, fitful
Nearby words
Origin of tottering
totter
[ tot-er ]
/ ˈtɒt ər /
verb (used without object)
to walk or go with faltering steps, as if from extreme weakness.
to sway or rock on the base or ground, as if about to fall: The tower seemed to totter in the wind. The government was tottering.
to shake or tremble: a load that tottered.
noun
the act of tottering; an unsteady movement or gait.
Origin of totter
1150–1200; Middle English toteren to swing < ?
SYNONYMS FOR totter
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for tottering
totter
/ (ˈtɒtə) /
verb (intr)
to walk or move in an unsteady manner, as from old age
to sway or shake as if about to fall
to be failing, unstable, or precarious
noun
the act or an instance of tottering
Word Origin for totter
C12: perhaps from Old English tealtrian to waver, and Middle Dutch touteren to stagger
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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totter
c.1200, "swing to and fro," perhaps from a Scandinavian source (cf. dialectal Norwegian totra "to quiver, shake"). Meaning "stand or walk with shaky, unsteady steps" is from c.1600. Related: Tottered; tottering.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper