rickety
adjective
rick·ety
| \ ˈri-kə-tē
\
\
Definition of rickety
1
: affected with rickets
2a
: lacking stability or firmness : shaky sense 2a
a rickety coalition
b
: in unsound physical condition
rickety veterans rickety stairs
Examples of rickety in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But this much is clear: with Johnson grasping for a vote, opposition parties attempting to maintain a rickety alliance, and suggestions the PM could break the law to achieve Brexit, Westminster is set for yet another explosive week. — Rob Picheta, CNN, "Boris Johnson had a torrid week. Now he's fighting to take back control," 8 Sep. 2019 And sweet to see families with takeout picnics, blankets, and rickety folding chairs gather on the Elks Park outdoor lawn for scrappy buddy-comedy-on-bicycles The Climb. — Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, "Telluride Day Four: Family dramas and French fever dreams wrap up the final day," 3 Sep. 2019 That evening, Wanda ventured to an open-air market crammed with rickety shacks as the shadows grew long and the light turned gold. — USA Today, "Were Wanda Tucker’s ancestors America’s first slaves? A difficult search for answers in far-away Angola," 22 Aug. 2019 For a frozen alternative, look for the rickety yellow shack on Peach Street. — Erica Jackson Curran, chicagotribune.com, "On the Eastern Shore, Virginia’s Cape Charles is in the midst of a small-town renaissance," 20 Aug. 2019 The bookstore consists of four rickety shelves holding mass-market paperbacks. — Brandon Shimoda, Harper's magazine, "The Fruits of Suffering," 19 Aug. 2019 Jaclyn Backhaus based her meticulously researched play on the travel journals of John Wesley Powell, whose 1869 expedition to survey the Grand Canyon in four rickety wooden boats was perhaps the last great adventure into the uncharted West. — Matt Cooper, latimes.com, "SoCal theater, July 14-21: Musical parodies of ‘Friends’ and ‘Lost’ and more," 12 July 2019 That’s a price worth paying to avoid an even more rickety financial system. — Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, "Deflation Stalks Chinese Industry Again," 10 July 2019 Lower interest rates are making Europe’s rickety banks even more fragile. — The Economist, "Dangerous miscalculations," 8 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rickety.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for rickety
rickety
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of rickety
: not strong or stable and likely to break
See the full definition for rickety in the English Language Learners Dictionary
rickety
adjective
rick·ety
| \ ˈri-kə-tē
\
\
Kids Definition of rickety
: in poor condition and likely to break
Just below them, hugging the shore, rose a village of thatched huts, with a small, rickety pier, boats on the sand, and nets spread for mending.— Lloyd Alexander, Time Cat
rickety
adjective
rick·ety
| \ ˈrik-ət-ē
\
\
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