unsteady
English edit
Etymology edit
From un- + steady. Like steady, the word first appeared in English around 1530. The word is comparable to Old Frisian onstedich, Low German unstadig, etc.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
unsteady (comparative unsteadier, superlative unsteadiest)
- Not held firmly in position, physically unstable.
- A slightly unsteady item of furniture.
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IV, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
- "Mid-Lent, and the Enemy grins," remarked Selwyn as he started for church with Nina and the children. Austin, knee-deep in a dozen Sunday supplements, refused to stir; poor little Eileen was now convalescent from grippe, but still unsteady on her legs; her maid had taken the grippe, and now moaned all day: […]"
- Lacking regularity or uniformity.
- Inconstant in purpose, or volatile in behavior.
Synonyms edit
- (not held or fixed securely and likely to fall over): precarious, rickety, shaky; see also Thesaurus:rickety
- (lacking regularity or uniformity): chaotic, irregular, unstable; see also Thesaurus:unsteady
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
not held in position
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lacking regularity
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inconstant in purpose or volatile in behavior
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb edit
unsteady (third-person singular simple present unsteadies, present participle unsteadying, simple past and past participle unsteadied)
- To render unsteady, removing balance.