rickety
Adjective Satellite
- inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
- "a rickety table"
- affected with, suffering from, or characteristic of rickets
- "rickety limbs and joints"
- lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality
Adj
- Of an object: not strong or sturdy, as because of poor construction or upkeep; not safe or secure.
- Feeble in the joints; tottering.
- Affected with or suffering from rickets; rachitic.
Adjective
- Poorly made and likely to fall or collapse; shaky.
Examples
- He hesitated about climbing such a small, rickety ladder.
- His rickety lead in Scrabble quickly tumbled after my power play.
- The rickety old man hardly managed to climb the stairs.
Origin / Etymology
From dialectal ricket (“unstable, rickety”) + -y, and/or ricket (“to move noisily and in a reckless way”) + -y.
Alternatively, and perhaps less likely, from rickets + -y.
Synonyms
debile, decrepit, feeble, infirm, rachitic, sapless, shaky, weak, weakly, wobbly, wonky, bockety, bone-shaking, craichy, cranky, creaking, creaky, drooping, flimsy, precarious, rickety, rottletrap, shackly, shoogly, tottering, tottersome, unsafe, unstable, unsteady
Antonyms
firm, resilient, robust, rugged, safe, secure, solid, stalwart, stalworth, stout, strong, sturdy, unprecarious, untottering, well-built
Scrabble Score: 16
rickety: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordrickety: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
rickety: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary