rickety

  • 1Rickety — 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

  • 2rickety — index imperfect Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 3rickety — 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

  • 4rickety — meaning ‘insecure or shaky’, is spelt ety, not etty …

    Modern English usage

  • 5rickety — [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

  • 6rickety — ► ADJECTIVE 1) poorly made and likely to collapse. 2) suffering from rickets. DERIVATIVES ricketiness noun …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7rickety — [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

  • 8rickety — 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

  • 9rickety — 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

  • 10rickety — 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