unsteady
Americanadjective
-
not steady or firm; unstable; shaky.
an unsteady hand.
-
fluctuating or wavering.
an unsteady flame; unsteady prices.
- Synonyms:
- vacillating
-
irregular or uneven.
an unsteady development.
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
not securely fixed
an unsteady foothold
-
(of behaviour, etc) lacking constancy; erratic
-
without regularity
an unsteady rhythm
-
(of a manner of walking, etc) precarious, staggering, as from intoxication
verb
Synonym Usage
See unsettled.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unsteady
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.
See Examples For:
With Itauma barely able to stand, his legs unsteady and body swaying before slumping in the corner, his team threw in the towel.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
The 37-year-old got back to his feet but looked unsteady and referee Mike Beltran waved off the contest as he stumbled.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
“I think it’s a really good question,” said George Schultze, founder and CEO of Schultze Asset Management, when asked about the threat that an increasingly unsteady bond market might pose to stocks.
From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026
But the nuclear infrastructure is too battered and the regime too unsteady to sprint for the bomb.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Next to them, Penelope slowly climbed to her feet, unsteady and a bit dazed.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
From oil prices to regional alliances, the six-month-old conflict has defied expectations and unsteadied the global balance of power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
The challenge will be not getting unsteadied by meticulously curated opposing pitching plans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2024
I breathed out, took my foot off the gas, and the car quivered, unsteadied.
From The Verge ● Feb. 9, 2016
At the same time, he knows what it’s like to be unsteadied by professional disappointment – and, worse, to be toppled, outright, by personal tragedy.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 18, 2015
Perhaps his happiness had unsteadied him a bit, for they were absolutely happy together.
From Greatheart by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell
Volckmer has said the subheading was kept off the cover “as a surprise” – making it the first of many unsteadying gear shifts in a monologue that sets out to unsettle.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 3, 2020
It is deeply unsteadying to ponder the possibility that Riefenstahl might have been both a considerable artist and a considerable Nazi.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 19, 2015
Now she looked at him rather quizzically, though her young eyes reflected something of his own unsteadying embarrassment.
From Captivating Mary Carstairs by Raymond Moreau Crosby
Dazed, the hearers stared from the mechanician's tattered, accusing figure to the pale young driver who offered neither surprise nor defense, but went steadily on with his unsteadying task.
From From the Car Behind by James Montgomery Flagg
But the continued explosions were unsteadying the hand of the drummer.
From The Lost Warship by Robert Moore Williams
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.
