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:
If Bass seemed unsteady in the immediate wake of the fires, she was on more sure footing with ICE.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
Inner-ear problems can also affect balance, and if someone is feeling dizzy or unsteady, they are likely to walk slower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 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
So why haven’t these headlines done more to calm an unsteady global oil market?
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 11, 2026
Once he’s gone I pace, tiny steps that cover my tiny room, but my steps feel unsteady so I move to sitting on my bed.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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
The impact unsteadied her afresh; and she covered her face again shaken with sobs.
From Far to Seek A Romance of England and India by Diver, Maud
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
But through all the young man's indignation and resentment there ran an unsteadying doubt, a miserable doubt of himself.
From Queed by Crosby, Raymond Moreau
Now she looked at him rather quizzically, though her young eyes reflected something of his own unsteadying embarrassment.
From Captivating Mary Carstairs by Crosby, Raymond Moreau
But the continued explosions were unsteadying the hand of the drummer.
From The Lost Warship by Williams, Robert Moore
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.
