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
Related Words
See unsettled.
Other Word Forms
- unsteadily adverb
- unsteadiness noun
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.
Yet they have to correct for a yearslong decline in employer response rates to BLS surveys—which does not negate the data overall, but certainly makes preliminary calculations a bit more unsteady and speculative.
From Slate • Apr. 3, 2026
Her unsteady ascent toward womanhood coincides, hysterically, with the theater company’s descent into chaos.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
So why haven’t these headlines done more to calm an unsteady global oil market?
From MarketWatch • Mar. 11, 2026
The morning of the disaster, unbeknown to those at the foot of the mountain, the large tip had been made unsteady by a build-up of water.
From BBC • Feb. 22, 2026
“Trust me, I know what it’s like. I did it with my mom. I ignored how she got more unsteady, and needed more help getting up and moving around the house.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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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.