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
And third, after years of gerrymandering and Republican consolidation of power, the Democratic turnout machine is exceedingly rickety.
—
Tad Friend, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
They will now be soldered together to form a financially rickety public hospital system.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 7 Feb. 2026
Along those lines, the rickety regional sports network model certainly is a concern, especially with the Giants owning a chunk of NBC Sports Bay Area.
—Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Jan. 2026
The result was a gleaming skyscraper held up by some rickety wooden boards, duct tape, and magic.
—Ian Stokes, Space.com, 14 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rickety
Tad Friend, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
They will now be soldered together to form a financially rickety public hospital system.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 7 Feb. 2026
Along those lines, the rickety regional sports network model certainly is a concern, especially with the Giants owning a chunk of NBC Sports Bay Area.
—Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Jan. 2026
The result was a gleaming skyscraper held up by some rickety wooden boards, duct tape, and magic.
—Ian Stokes, Space.com, 14 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rickety
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rickety
Adjective
-
An operating license for a dilapidated Boba tea kiosk displays a 2024 expiration date.—
Audrey Pachuta,
Chicago Tribune,
9 May 2026
-
Zaragoza stationed his men on the high ground, hidden behind cacti, behind walls of dilapidated forts, in ditches.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
Easy Company found themselves in a ramshackle compound, cut off and heavily outnumbered by the Taliban in the town.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
-
The entire thing is a beautifully chaotic blank canvas for Sacramento’s music community to collaborate and mishmash within itself, to forge a platoon of one-off troupes and ramshackle supergroups — check out some prior videos on the event’s Instagram.—
Aaron Davis,
Sacbee.com,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rickety. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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