as in dilapidated
not strong or stable and likely to break
rickety stairs a rickety old table
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Recent Examples of rickety
There was a sense of terminal decline or terminal corrosion about government post-COVID, with the government being really rickety, and then this new leader that didn’t have a huge amount of relative endorsement from the Party. . . .
—
Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2022
Some are too rickety to reliably relocate delicate bottles and glassware without fear of a smashup, others are bereft of functional features, and still others simply don’t look attractive enough to grace your living space.
—Rachel Klein, Popular Mechanics, 16 Sep. 2022
The underpinnings of the economy, however, still look rickety.
—Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, 15 July 2022
Those who are old enough remember being afraid to ride the rickety wooden roller coaster.
—Timothy Fanning, San Antonio Express-News, 7 Sep. 2022
See All Example Sentences for rickety
Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2022
Some are too rickety to reliably relocate delicate bottles and glassware without fear of a smashup, others are bereft of functional features, and still others simply don’t look attractive enough to grace your living space.
—Rachel Klein, Popular Mechanics, 16 Sep. 2022
The underpinnings of the economy, however, still look rickety.
—Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, 15 July 2022
Those who are old enough remember being afraid to ride the rickety wooden roller coaster.
—Timothy Fanning, San Antonio Express-News, 7 Sep. 2022
See All Example Sentences for rickety
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rickety
Adjective
-
The South Lodge, at the base of the Quail chair, burned down in 2016 and in its place sits a row of dilapidated structures and storage sheds.—
Megan Michelson,
Outside Online,
4 Apr. 2025
-
When no firm alternatives emerged, and with the site growing mildewed and dilapidated, the original construction resumed.—
By Charlie Campbell/Gelephu, Bhutan,
TIME,
16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
That’s when college pals John Schoenstein and Michael Barnes moved their wholesale pottery business from Pomona into a large but rather ramshackle building on the east side of Old Creamery Road.—
Kathe Tanner,
Sacbee.com,
23 Apr. 2025
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Wide public spaces and malls replace the ramshackle markets.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
4 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rickety. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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