- present participle of totter.
tottering
Americanadjective
-
walking unsteadily or shakily.
-
lacking security or stability; threatening to collapse; precarious.
a tottering empire.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tottering
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In a speech aimed at steadying his tottering premiership on Monday, Sir Keir said "incremental change won't cut it" as he promised to "face up to the big challenges" the country faced.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
But just as the left-hander was getting going, Starc pounced again, trapping him lbw for 21 to leave England tottering on 33-2.
From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025
He regularly held Saturday morning sessions with experts on the tottering Soviet empire and led the George H.W.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025
The two boys, aged 2 and 4, romped through the labyrinth of La Soledad, under lines of drying laundry, past deliverymen pushing stacked handcarts and carpenters hammering away at tottering structures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2025
“I am come down to see your third strata,” he said, tottering and wincing.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
