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:
While leading the game 2-1, Scotland's Menzies stepped away from the oche and appeared unsteady on his feet as England's Smith and the referee guided him safely off stage.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Aigul Khismatullina, Queen of the Night, impresses with the silvery pricks of her high notes, while Kwangchul Youn’s Sarastro, unsteady in middle register, takes on weight at the bottom of his bass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 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
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
I thought I would be unsteady, shaky, and sobbing.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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
The room seems unsteadied by von Storch's ambition.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 27, 2010
He was abstemious, and a large dose of strong spirit would, no doubt, have unsteadied him.
From Brandon of the Engineers by Bindloss, Harold
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
In fact we usually attribute the smallness of his scores to its unsteadying effect.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, July 14th, 1920 by Various
It was going to be more unsteadying than she had foreseen.
From Far to Seek A Romance of England and India by Diver, Maud
It was a trifle unsteadying even to him.
From The Heath Hover Mystery by Mitford, Bertram
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.
