Skip to content

unsteady

adjective

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L299241 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ʌnˈstɛdi/

adj

Etymology: From un- + steady. Like steady, the word first appeared in English around 1530. The word is comparable to Old Frisian onstedich, Low German unstadig, etc.

  1. Not held firmly in position; physically unstable.

    A slightly unsteady item of furniture.

    "Mid-Lent, and the Enemy grins," remarked Selwyn as he started for church with Nina and the children. Austin, knee-deep in a dozen Sunday supplements, refused to stir; poor little Eileen was now convalescent from grippe, but still unsteady on her legs; her maid had taken the grippe, and now moaned all day:[…]"

  2. Lacking regularity or uniformity.
  3. Inconstant in purpose, or volatile in behavior.

verb

Etymology: From un- + steady. Like steady, the word first appeared in English around 1530. The word is comparable to Old Frisian onstedich, Low German unstadig, etc.

  1. To render unsteady, removing balance.