- rickety
-
adjective
Date: 1683
1. affected with rickets
2.
a. lacking stability or firmness ; shaky 2a <a rickety coalition> b. in unsound physical condition <rickety veterans> <rickety stairs>
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
rickety
Look at other dictionaries:
Rickety — Rick et*y, a. 1. Affected with rickets. [1913 Webster] 2. Feeble in the joints; imperfect; weak; shaky. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
rickety — index imperfect Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
rickety — liable to fall down, 1680s, from RICKETS (Cf. rickets) (with + Y (Cf. y) (2)), via notion of weak, unhealthy. Literal sense is from c.1720 but never common in English. Of material things, from 1799 … Etymology dictionary
rickety — meaning ‘insecure or shaky’, is spelt ety, not etty … Modern English usage
rickety — [adj] unsound, broken down broken, decrepit, derelict, dilapidated, feeble, flimsy, fragile, frail, imperfect, infirm, insecure, jerry built*, precarious, ramshackle, rattletrap*, rocky, shaky, tottering, tottery*, tumble down, unsteady, wavering … New thesaurus
rickety — ► ADJECTIVE 1) poorly made and likely to collapse. 2) suffering from rickets. DERIVATIVES ricketiness noun … English terms dictionary
rickety — [rik′it ē] adj. 1. of or having rickets 2. weak in the joints; tottering 3. liable to fall or break down because weak; shaky ricketiness n … English World dictionary
rickety — UK [ˈrɪkətɪ] / US adjective Word forms rickety : adjective rickety comparative ricketier superlative ricketiest a rickety structure or piece of furniture is likely to break if you put any weight on it, often because it is old a rickety… … English dictionary
rickety — rick|et|y [ˈrıkıti] adj [Date: 1600 1700; Origin: rickets] a rickety structure or piece of furniture is in very bad condition, and likely to break easily ▪ a rickety old wooden chair ▪ a rickety bridge … Dictionary of contemporary English
rickety — ricketiness, n. /rik i tee/, adj., ricketier, ricketiest. 1. likely to fall or collapse; shaky: a rickety chair. 2. feeble in the joints; tottering; infirm: a rickety old man. 3. old, dilapidated, or in disrepair. 4. irregular, as motion or… … Universalium
