1
as in sporadic
lacking in steadiness or regularity of occurrence
a year of unsteady economic growth
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in volatile
likely to change frequently, suddenly, or unexpectedly
in the days of sailing ships, mariners were constantly at the mercy of unsteady winds
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in unstable
not being in or able to maintain a state of balance
cautiously climbed up the unsteady ladder
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4
as in uneven
not staying constant
unsteady business conditions that rattled investors
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unsteady
But the rise of retail betting has been unsteady: 2025 totals so far are lower than the totals in 2023 for the same period.
—
Renata Daou, Hartford Courant, 30 Mar. 2025
Slow and unsteady Karma: The Dark World is a slow game, both in its exposition and its occasionally frustrating slow walking speed.
—Matt Gardner, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
Her hands became too unsteady after 2000 to continue drawing.
—Hilarie M. Sheets, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
Something long and meandering like this: For the next four years, the United States will be an unpredictable, unsteady global superpower run by a fascist oligarchy, in which the people’s representatives cater to a madman’s whim.
—Eli Grober, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unsteady
Renata Daou, Hartford Courant, 30 Mar. 2025
Slow and unsteady Karma: The Dark World is a slow game, both in its exposition and its occasionally frustrating slow walking speed.
—Matt Gardner, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
Her hands became too unsteady after 2000 to continue drawing.
—Hilarie M. Sheets, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
Something long and meandering like this: For the next four years, the United States will be an unpredictable, unsteady global superpower run by a fascist oligarchy, in which the people’s representatives cater to a madman’s whim.
—Eli Grober, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unsteady
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsteady
Adjective
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Though the May 31 eruption is the only one caught on official video, the USGS has received several reports of other sporadic eruptions over the past year.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
1 June 2025
-
My spring crops were slow to develop this year, stifled by sporadic frosts and bouts of dry weather.—
Anthony Reardon,
Kansas City Star,
30 May 2025
Adjective
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But make no mistake: the situation remains extremely volatile.—
Robert Rapier,
Forbes.com,
16 June 2025
-
Israel’s strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation, which appeared to catch many world leaders unawares, is the latest sign of a more volatile world.—
Rob Gillies,
Chicago Tribune,
15 June 2025
Adjective
-
Because the Sun’s magnetic field is especially unstable and dynamic near the solar poles, particularly the south pole, a good, hard look can pay dividends that will protect us here on Earth.—
David Szondy
June 15,
New Atlas,
15 June 2025
-
The lawsuit alleges Saffold was unstable during the procedure, and the anesthesiologist and nurse failed to give him proper medical intervention to save his life.—
PJ Green,
Kansas City Star,
14 June 2025
Adjective
-
Avoid wobbly or uneven fittings to keep everything centered.—
Elizabeth Fogarty,
Better Homes & Gardens,
15 June 2025
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That means Juno’s radio transmissions will experience the Doppler effect, where the wavelength shifts slightly in response to Io’s uneven gravitational field.—
Robin Andrews,
Wired News,
15 June 2025
Adjective
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After intermittent closures last week, the intersection opened and the new signal system turned on Thursday.—
Kathryn Kovalenko,
Twin Cities,
6 June 2025
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While the tech industry is also using solar and wind power, their intermittent nature means stable electricity supplies generated by nuclear reactors — but also coal and natural gas — is in high demand.—
Bloomberg News,
Chicago Tribune,
4 June 2025
Adjective
-
Entrepreneurs who want to survive must meet our current reality by staying as flexible as the market is unpredictable.—
Cynthia Pong,
Forbes.com,
8 June 2025
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Love can get a little wild and unpredictable this month.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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But such readings can hardly account for the urgency, and occasional stridency, of le Carré’s post-Cold War novels.—
Rav Grewal-Kök
June 16,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2025
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Because geniuses tend not to specialize in things like picking up after themselves, the human price is often paid by a long-suffering partner-secretary—wifely figures like Véra Nabokov, Sophia Tolstoy, and Alice B. Toklas, or the occasional husband like Leonard Woolf.—
S. C. Cornell,
New Yorker,
16 June 2025
Adjective
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Hers is the kind of face that inspires directors to tight framing — gleaming, as if smoothed from marble, and yet somehow pliant, changeful.—
Jordan Kisner Jack Davison,
New York Times,
11 Oct. 2022
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Rigorous, blustery winter; winding sleety spring; hot, moist enervating summer; changeful autumn with its dog-days; these are absolutely unknown.—
San Diego Union-Tribune,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
1 Jan. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Unsteady.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsteady. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
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