wobble

1 of 2

verb

wob·​ble ˈwä-bəl 

variants or less commonly wabble

wobbled also wabbled; wobbling also wabbling ˈwä-b(ə-)liŋ 

intransitive verb

1

a

: to move or proceed with an irregular rocking or staggering motion or unsteadily and clumsily from side to side

b

: tremble, quaver

2

: waver, vacillate

transitive verb

: to cause to wobble

wobbler noun

or less commonly wabbler

ˈwä-b(ə-)lər 

wobbliness noun

or less commonly wabbliness

ˈwä-blē-nəs 

wobbly adjective

or less commonly wabbly

ˈwä-b(ə-)lē 

wobble

2 of 2

noun

variants or less commonly wabble

1

a

: a hobbling or rocking unequal motion (as of a wheel unevenly mounted)

b

: an uncertainly directed movement

2

: an intermittent variation (as in volume of sound)

Synonyms of wobble

Verb

• shake
• jerk
• shudder
• vibrate
• quiver

Examples of wobble in a Sentence

Verb

The vase wobbled but didn't fall over.

The boy was wobbling along on his bicycle.

The table wobbles a little.

They have been wobbling in their support of the president's policies.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The longer uncertainty lingers, the more risk there is for stocks at a moment when the market leaders, chipmakers, are wobbling. — John Towfighi, CNN Money, 9 July 2026

Instead of rising together whenever markets wobble, Treasurys, gold and the yen are increasingly responding to their own macro fundamentals. — Lim Hui Jie,lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 3 July 2026

Noun

With seven Messi goals from four matches so far, Argentina, as expected (despite their humongous wobble against Cape Verde), should reach the semi-finals with victories over Egypt and then either Colombia or Switzerland. — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 8 July 2026

The wobbles were another troubling sign about the market’s direction and reportedly are factoring into OpenAI’s IPO, which could be pushed out to 2027 instead of later this year. — Jason Ma, Fortune, 5 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

probably from Low German wabbeln; akin to Old English wǣfre restless — more at waver

First Known Use

Verb

1657, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun

1699, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Rhymes for wobble

• bauble
• cobble
• gobble
• hobble
• labile
• squabble
• cantabile

Kids Definition

wobble

1 of 2 verb

wob·​ble ˈwäb-əl 

wobbled; wobbling -(ə-)liŋ 

1

a

: to move or cause to move with a jerky rocking or side-to-side motion

the baby's head wobbled from side to side

b

: tremble entry 1 sense 1

a voice that wobbles

2

: waver sense 1

his opinion wobbled

wobbler

ˈwäb-(ə-)lər 

noun

wobbly

-(ə-)lē 

adjective

wobble

2 of 2 noun

: a wobbling action or movement

the wheel had a bad wobble