unsteady

English

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈstɛdi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛdi
• Hyphenation: un‧steady

Adjective

unsteady (comparative unsteadier, superlative unsteadiest)

1. Not held firmly in position, physically unstable.

   A slightly unsteady item of furniture.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IV, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     "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.

Synonyms

• (not held or fixed securely and likely to fall over): precarious, rickety, shaky; see also Thesaurus:rickety
• (lacking regularity or uniformity): chaotic, irregular, unstable; see also Thesaurus:unsteady

Antonyms

• steady

Derived terms

• unsteadily

Translations

not held in position

• Bulgarian: неусто́йчив (bg) (neustójčiv)
• Dagbani: baŋabaŋa
• Finnish: epävakaa (fi)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀσταθής (astathḗs), ἀστάθμητος (astáthmētos)

• Japanese: ふらふら (ja) (furafura), グラグラ (guragura)
• Latin: instabilis
• Maori: tatutatu, tikoki, tīkoki, tīmangamanga, koritaka, pariko, pārikoriko, koritaka, tūretireti
• Old English: slipor
• Persian: شل (fa), لق (fa)
• Portuguese: instável (pt)
• Russian: неусто́йчивый (ru) (neustójčivyj), ша́ткий (ru) (šátkij), зы́бкий (ru) (zýbkij)
• Spanish: inestable (es)
• Swedish: ostadig (sv)

lacking regularity

• Bulgarian: непостоянен (bg) (nepostojanen)
• Finnish: epävakaa (fi), epäsäännöllinen (fi)
• Irish: anacair
• Maori: tīmangamanga
• Portuguese: instável (pt), volúvel (pt)
• Russian: неусто́йчивый (ru) (neustójčivyj)
• Spanish: irregular (es)
• Swedish: ostadig (sv)

inconstant in purpose or volatile in behavior

• Bulgarian: несигурен (bg) (nesiguren)
• Finnish: epävakaa (fi)
• German: unstet (de)
• Irish: luaineach
• Middle English: unstedefast
• Portuguese: inconstante (pt), volátil (pt)
• Russian: неусто́йчивый (ru) (neustójčivyj), непостоя́нный (ru) (nepostojánnyj), переме́нчивый (ru) (pereménčivyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} instable (fr), branlant (fr), fébrile (fr)

Verb

unsteady (third-person singular simple present unsteadies, present participle unsteadying, simple past and past participle unsteadied)

1. To render unsteady, removing balance.

Anagrams

• Dauntsey, unstayed