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
One very much hopes that those acres make it through today unscathed, but that seems unlikely, and the state hasn’t yet managed to fix its rickety property-insurance system, which will make recovery harder for many.
—
Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 28 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
Those who are old enough remember being afraid to ride the rickety wooden roller coaster.
—Timothy Fanning, San Antonio Express-News, 7 Sep. 2022
The underpinnings of the economy, however, still look rickety.
—Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, 15 July 2022
See All Example Sentences for rickety
Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 28 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
Those who are old enough remember being afraid to ride the rickety wooden roller coaster.
—Timothy Fanning, San Antonio Express-News, 7 Sep. 2022
The underpinnings of the economy, however, still look rickety.
—Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, 15 July 2022
See All Example Sentences for rickety
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rickety
Adjective
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The demolition of the former dilapidated Northridge Mall, which began last year, is finished.—
Hannah Kirby,
jsonline.com,
1 Oct. 2025
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The restaurant is the joint labor of love for couple Wessie and Tradd Newton, who have stewarded the location from a dilapidated structure into a local institution.—
Alana Al-Hatlani,
Southern Living,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The two manage to thrive together amid the decay and disorder of their East Hampton, New York mansion, making for an eerily ramshackle echo of the American Camelot.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
23 Sep. 2025
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Refusing sculpture’s decorum, Noah Purifoy turns neighborhood rubble into Johnsian abstraction that predicts his ramshackle desert sculptures.—
Jerry Saltz,
Vulture,
19 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rickety. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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