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Glite Dictionary
😬 Uncertain or weak 🌊 Wavy shape 💫 Unsteady motion
wavery

wavery

6.5
Moving or looking unsteady and slightly shaking
  • adjective
  • /ˈweɪvəri/
translation icon : tembloroso
  • As she spoke, her voice had a wavery quality that made it clear she was nervous.

Examples

  • The candle's flame danced in a wavery motion, flickering as the wind stirred around it.

  • The red was just this wavery kind of stuff bleeding through the the enamel from years of sitting next to the salt, I guess.

  • And if we were ATV show, you know, the image would get all wavery as he flashes back in time.

  • He seemed to have calmed; everything seemed to have grown quiet, a dull, wavery throb of static.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The image on the screen became wavery, distorting the once clear picture into a blurry haze.

Synonyms

shaky
vswavery
59 2.1

Not steady and trembling, often from fear, cold, or tiredness

focuses more on visual fluctuation rather than only bodily shake
wobbly
vswavery
36 3.6

Unsteady and likely to move from side to side

covers general unstable movement and visual fluctuation not just side motion
unsteady
vswavery
16 3.3

Not firm or balanced and likely to fall

emphasizes trembling or visual fluctuation rather than mere imbalance
flickery
vswavery
6.0

Light or image that changes quickly and is not steady

applies to broad trembling or fluctuating motion, not only quick light changes

How Unsteady

shaky
59 2.1
wobbly
36 3.6
wavery
6.5
unsteady
16 3.3
uneven
42 2.3

Surface Forms

wavery positive

Morphology

wavery = wave (semi-transparent) = wave + wav + ery

The suffix '-ery' suggests a quality or state, but the specific meaning of 'wavery' as 'unsteady or trembling' is not a direct derivation from 'wave'.

Etymology

Wavery comes from the verb waver, which means 'to shake or move slightly'. That image of small, shaking waves helps explain why wavery can describe something that looks unsteady or like it is moving in a trembling way.