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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But Spencer said replacing old, dilapidated buildings with newer ones could also put the district in a better position to compete with charter schools.—
Silas Allen,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
26 June 2025
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That made staying in Oakland untenable for the franchise, which played its final season in the dilapidated stadium last year.—
W.G. Ramirez,
Chicago Tribune,
23 June 2025
Adjective
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Prior to its recent resurgence, Detroit's Brush Park had been a sparsely populated neighborhood with large swaths of vacant lots amid a few ramshackle Victorian mansions.—
JC Reindl,
Freep.com,
9 July 2025
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But Pavement remade it in their own gloriously ramshackle way, goosing it with new melodies and rowdy band interaction.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
14 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rickety. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.
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