rickety.

1. Weak, unstable, or poorly put together, especially from wear.

2. Affected by the bone-development disorder rickets.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• rickety chair
• rickety stairs
• rickety bridge

On the page

The rickety chair rocked beneath him.

They climbed the rickety stairs carefully.

A rickety bridge crossed the stream.

Usage notes

Primary category: setting. Forms: Ricketier; ricketiest; also more/most rickety. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.