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
And third, after years of gerrymandering and Republican consolidation of power, the Democratic turnout machine is exceedingly rickety.
—
Tad Friend, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
They will now be soldered together to form a financially rickety public hospital system.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 7 Feb. 2026
Along those lines, the rickety regional sports network model certainly is a concern, especially with the Giants owning a chunk of NBC Sports Bay Area.
—Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Jan. 2026
The result was a gleaming skyscraper held up by some rickety wooden boards, duct tape, and magic.
—Ian Stokes, Space.com, 14 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rickety
Tad Friend, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
They will now be soldered together to form a financially rickety public hospital system.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 7 Feb. 2026
Along those lines, the rickety regional sports network model certainly is a concern, especially with the Giants owning a chunk of NBC Sports Bay Area.
—Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Jan. 2026
The result was a gleaming skyscraper held up by some rickety wooden boards, duct tape, and magic.
—Ian Stokes, Space.com, 14 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rickety
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rickety
Adjective
-
Here cavernous sheet-metal market halls rub shoulders with dilapidated clapboard stores.—
Duncan Madden,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
-
The Urban Institute detailed in 2024 how declining government funding for public spaces had left many dilapidated and underutilized, or privatized and no longer free.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
26 May 2026
Adjective
-
Manning the decks is the Hacker, Miss Kittin’s partner in crime, who flips the sawmill machinery of Dave Stewart’s production into ramshackle Miami bass.—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
23 May 2026
-
Easy Company found themselves in a ramshackle compound, cut off and heavily outnumbered by the Taliban in the town.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rickety. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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