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
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In Los Angeles, $500,000 gets you a dilapidated hut in the hood with a permanent police siren soundtrack.—
Rafael Perez,
Oc Register,
30 May 2025
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Stay Here: The Spanish family behind Vestige Collection is on a mission to breathe life into the country’s crumbling landmarks and dilapidated palaces.—
Siobhan Reid,
Vogue,
28 May 2025
Adjective
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Souter was perfectly happy with his secluded life in Weare, New Hampshire, living with his elderly mother in a ramshackle cabin in the woods.—
Barbara A. Perry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 May 2025
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Indeed, the Democratic Party has become a ramshackle, disheveled party and has given a new meaning to spontaneous combustion.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rickety. Accessed 15 Jun. 2025.
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