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Glite Dictionary
🪑 Unstable or shaky 🧓 Physically weak
rickety

rickety

18 5.9
Unstable and likely to fall, like an old chair or bridge
  • adjective
  • /ˈrɪkəti/
translation icon : endeble
  • The stairs could be a little rickety, so you might want to grab on to something more firm.

OK, so one bridge is a stone bridge, One bridge is a rickety wooden bridge that's wobbly.

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Examples

  • The rooms were small, with sloping eaves and rickety white-painted furniture; we loved them.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I expected to find a rickety shack built of scrap lumber and sheet metal.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Only way out there is over this old rickety bridge.

    One False Move (1991)

  • Across that rickety old bridge?

    The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

  • Be careful, Pop, those boxes look rickety.

    The Shaggy Dog (1959)

  • Helen makes her way down the rickety grandstand steps towards the road, and James follows her.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The Canty family lived in Offal Court in a small, rickety house packed full of poor families.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Faul and the first mate Harral sauntered down the rickety pier toward the shore.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Villagers arrive on foot or atop rickety ox carts, piled high with produce and other wares to sell.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The children carefully crossed the old rickety bridge, afraid it might collapse at any moment.

Synonyms

fragile
vsrickety
83 3.4

Easily broken or damaged because it is not strong

focuses on poor construction leading to possible collapse not just delicacy
shaky
vsrickety
53 3.3

Not firm or safe and likely to fail

is about likely to collapse due to poor construction rather than general instability
wobbly
vsrickety
36 3.6

Unsteady and likely to move from side to side

is defined by structural weakness and risk of collapse rather than just shaking
flimsy
vsrickety
25 3.8

Thin and not strong so it breaks or tears easily

implies poor build causing collapse risk rather than just being easy to break
dilapidated
vsrickety
18 6.2

A building that is very old and badly damaged because no one fixed it

highlights weak build and collapse risk rather than age or neglect cause
creaky
vsrickety
12 4.1

A harsh sound something makes when it moves, for example an old door or a tired voice

refers to physical weakness that may cause collapse rather than only noise
wonky
vsrickety
6 7.7

Not steady or straight and likely to wobble

describes structural weakness that risks collapse rather than mere misalignment
unsturdy
vsrickety
4.8

Likely to wobble or break, like a weak chair

is weak because of poor build and likely to fall apart
crocky
vsrickety
  • UK
9.9

Easily broken like old pottery or thin plates

speaks to unstable construction risking collapse rather than material brittleness
brickly
vsrickety
  • Archaic
9.9

Likely to break or crack easily

names structural weakness that may make something fall, not just breakability

Antonyms

sturdy
76 2.1

Strong and solid so it does not break easily

How Stable

sturdy
76 2.1
stable
473 2.3
shaky
53 3.3
flimsy
25 3.8
rickety
18 5.9
ramshackle
10 7.5

Surface Forms

rickety positive

Morphology

rickety = rickets (semi-transparent) = ricket + y

Same morphological formation as sense 1; the meaning for structures ('likely to collapse') is an extension/metaphor from physical frailty, so learners must infer a figurative shift.

Etymology

Rickety was first used from rickets and then copied to things that are weak or shaky. That's why a chair, bridge, or door called rickety feels 'likely to collapse' or fall apart because it is not strong.