wobbly
adjective
shaky; unsteady.
wobbly
1 American
[wob-lee]
/ ˈwɒb li /
Or
wabbly
adjective
wobblier,
wobbliest
Wobbly
2
American
[wob-lee]
/ ˈwɒb li /
noun
Wobblies
plural
wobbly
1
British
/ ˈwɒblɪ /
adjective
-
unsteady
-
trembling, shaking
noun
Wobbly
2
British
/ ˈwɒblɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of wobbly1
First recorded in 1850–55; wobble + -y 1
Origin of Wobbly2
An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; of uncertain origin
Explanation
If something's wobbly, it has a tendency to sway or lurch from side to side, like the wobbly wheel on a broken tricycle or the wobbly legs of a cruise ship passenger who has just set foot on solid ground after a week at sea. If your chair is wobbly, you may need to tighten the legs with a screwdriver. And if you're feeling wobbly during gym class, you probably need to sit down and drink some water. Anything or anyone that wobbles can be described as wobbly, and both words come from a root meaning "to weave back and forth." When the word is capitalized, it's a nickname for a member of the labor union called International Workers of the World.
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:
Investors expected several cuts this year, on top of three in late 2025, thanks in part to a wobbly job market that left officials worried that high rates were doing more harm than good.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
After being freed, he was "a little wobbly" and rested with his back end still inside the tyre for a while before eventually managing to walk himself free completely, the charity said.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
Before they piled them both into a pickup truck, Beatrice gave a grinning Vivian her first riding lesson, fast-walking beside her on a wobbly course across the hospital courtyard.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
Before investors get too comfortable, however, they should know that there are some signs that the economy is a bit wobbly.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
She got ready for bed and took it with her, tracing her fingers over the black ink, worries making them wobbly.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Wobbly economic conditions could prompt Fed officials to lower rates more than the single cut they penciled in for 2026 back in December.
From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026
Its best friend was a penguin named Wobbly Willy.
From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2023
Wobbly China recovery after the country put an end to its “zero-COVID” policy has also prevented demand from rebounding quickly.
From Reuters ● Jul. 25, 2023
Based on her firsthand experience, she says that vendors you’ll definitely want to visit include Flat Tack Farm, Red Truck Farm, Wobbly Cart Farm and Reister Ranch.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2022
Wobbly on his feet and using two canes to walk, he still relished a long drive.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
A statewide dragnet for organizers from the Industrial Workers of the World, or Wobblies, ensued, followed by hundreds of arrests.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2024
The movement borrowed heavily from the civil rights movement, radical labor groups like the Wobblies and the anti-industrial Luddites of 19th-century England.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2022
The Wobblies, as Rye notes, are “the one big union that took anyone as a member: Finnish logger, Negro seamstress, Indian ranch hand, even floater like them.”
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2020
CSAs are "building a new world in the shell of the old," as the Wobblies said.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2020
Twenty of the "hard-boiled Wobblies" were removed to Seattle shortly after this, but it was no trouble for the men to gain their demands from that time on.
From The Everett massacre A history of the class struggle in the lumber industry by Smith, Walker C.
The cycle gets wobblier but it doesn’t change.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025
My feet got wobblier, my efforts to loop back to the starting point slower and my water breaks more frequent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2018
Paul collaboration "Trophy" is grimy and automotive; "Happy" and "Fool to Love" are lighter and wobblier.
From The Verge ● Jul. 29, 2016
Zoom in closer, and that career arc looks wobblier than a late-career Manning spiral.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2016
His stance grew wobblier with each passing second, but somehow he managed to make eye contact with me.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Since that time, scientists have used what they have learned about gravitational waves to observe a black hole devour a neutron star, glimpse inside neutron stars and even discover the wobbliest black hole ever seen.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2023
Since then, the discovery of gravitational waves have allowed scientists to peer inside neutron stars and discover the wobbliest black hole ever detected.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2023
Science news headlines regularly tout how gravitational waves are allowing scientists to do new things like peer inside neutron stars and discover the wobbliest black hole ever detected.
From Salon ● Nov. 18, 2022
Open to become the first woman in 27 years to hold all four majors in a calendar year, it would cap another milestone for the record-breaking American: the wobbliest dominant season in tennis history.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 29, 2015
And their boxes and steamships are the wobbliest things.”
From Maida's Little Shop by Gillmore, Inez Haynes
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.
