tottering

American

[tot-er-ing] / ˈtɒt ər ɪŋ /

adjective

walking unsteadily or shakily.
lacking security or stability; threatening to collapse; precarious.

a tottering empire.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of tottering

totter + -ing ²

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.

It is also another blow to the tottering system of international law.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026

Dotting the shoreline is a bleak expanse of detritus: timeworn pumps, tottering derricks, wayward cranes and aging pipelines.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2026

This is a comic epic of bursting balloons and black eyes, tipsy aunts and tottering uncles, an errant mouse and driving snows.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

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

The father groped his way tottering to his chair and let himself fall in it.

From "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023