rickety
pronunciation
How to pronounce rickety in British English: UK [ˈrɪkəti]
How to pronounce rickety in American English: US [ˈrɪkəti]
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- Adjective:
- inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
Word Origin
- rickety (adj.)
- "liable to fall down," 1680s, from rickets (with + -y (2)), via notion of "weak, unhealthy." Literal sense is from c. 1720 but never common in English. Of material things, from 1799.
Example
- 1. Other countries with rickety public finances are nevertheless splurging on science and universities .
- 2. Fears about the rickety state of banks had made many people mistrustful of keeping money on deposit .
- 3. But , on the rickety bridge , 9 out of 18 called .
- 4. Even in defeat he may , like samson , be ready to pull down the pillars of his rickety regime on his hapless people .
- 5. We were dubious whether we would find ghost weddings in the modernist concrete blocks and rickety mines , but it seemed that the danger and urban anomie created a crucible for traditions such as ghost weddings .