1
: affected with rickets
2
a
: lacking stability or firmness : shaky sense 2a
a rickety coalition
b
: in unsound physical condition
rickety veterans
rickety stairs
Examples of rickety in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Griff's was a cozy space inside with a small, rickety wooden patio in the front and a larger one in the back.
—
Brianna Griff, Chron, 13 Jan. 2023
Instead of rickety outdoor patios with plastic partitions, diners mostly ate in dining rooms.
—Nick Kindelsperger, Chicago Tribune, 28 Dec. 2022
At least 185 men, women and children disembarked from a rickety wooden boat Monday at dusk on Ujong Pie beach at Muara Tiga, a coastal village in Aceh’s Pidie district, said local police chief Fauzi, who goes by a single name.
—Rahmat Mirza, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Dec. 2022
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
There was a sense of terminal decline or terminal corrosion about government post-COVID, with the government being really rickety, and then this new leader that didn’t have a huge amount of relative endorsement from the Party. . . .
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 21 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
The underpinnings of the economy, however, still look rickety.
—Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, 15 July 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
Brianna Griff, Chron, 13 Jan. 2023
Instead of rickety outdoor patios with plastic partitions, diners mostly ate in dining rooms.
—Nick Kindelsperger, Chicago Tribune, 28 Dec. 2022
At least 185 men, women and children disembarked from a rickety wooden boat Monday at dusk on Ujong Pie beach at Muara Tiga, a coastal village in Aceh’s Pidie district, said local police chief Fauzi, who goes by a single name.
—Rahmat Mirza, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Dec. 2022
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
There was a sense of terminal decline or terminal corrosion about government post-COVID, with the government being really rickety, and then this new leader that didn’t have a huge amount of relative endorsement from the Party. . . .
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 21 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
The underpinnings of the economy, however, still look rickety.
—Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, 15 July 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
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rickety.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near rickety
Cite this Entry
“Rickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rickety. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
rickety
adjective
rick·ety
ˈrik-ət-ē 
1
: in weak physical condition
a rickety old man
2
: unsound sense 3, shaky
a rickety wagon
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