rickety

adjective

Definition of ricketynext
as in dilapidated
not strong or stable and likely to break rickety stairs a rickety old table

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rickety Your sunnies should be comfortable and durable, not rickety! — Katie Decker-Jacoby, StyleCaster, 26 Mar. 2026 Still, those sorts of phony statements have deeply diminished faith in our elections and our increasingly rickety democracy. — Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2026 When Ken Fulk and Kurt Wootton purchased what would become Durham Ranch—named after one of their dogs—the California wine country property was in disrepair, with a derelict 1940s ranch house and a handful of rickety outbuildings. — Mark David, Robb Report, 17 Mar. 2026 They will now be soldered together to form a financially rickety public hospital system. — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 7 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for rickety
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rickety
  1. dilapidated
  2. ramshackle
Adjective
  • Protests by high school students angry about dilapidated, understaffed schools have roiled France since mid-September.
    — JOHN LEICESTER, Arkansas Online, 15 Oct. 2026
  • High schoolers are expressing broad grievances over schools that are under-resourced, with dilapidated facilities and insufficient staff, notably in lower-income neighborhoods.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of dilapidated
Adjective
  • Families peered out at us suspiciously from curtainless windows in ramshackle brick dwellings.
    — Jordan Salama, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Detectives began digging on Tuesday in the remote area of Lancaster on a property next to a ramshackle home.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of ramshackle

Browse Nearby Words

rick
rickety
rickrack
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Cite this Entry

“Rickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rickety. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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