Word Study
shaky
CIDE DICTIONARY
shaky, a.
- Shaking or trembling; as, a shaky spot in a marsh; a shaky hand. Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
- Full of shakes or cracks; cracked; as, shaky timber. Gwilt. [1913 Webster]
- Easily shaken; tottering; unsound; as, a shaky constitution; shaky business credit. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
shaky, adj. (shakier, shakiest)
1 unsteady; apt to shake; trembling.
2 unsound, infirm (a shaky hand).
3 unreliable, wavering (a shaky promise; got off to a shaky start).
1 unsteady; apt to shake; trembling.
2 unsound, infirm (a shaky hand).
3 unreliable, wavering (a shaky promise; got off to a shaky start).
Derivative
shakily adv. shakiness n.
THESAURUS
shaky
adrift, afloat, agitated, aguey, aguish, algid, all shook up, all-overish, anile, aquiver, aspen, bagging, baggy, bashful, blue with cold, blurred, breathy, chattering, chilly, choked, choking, clear, cold, cool, cowardly, crabbed, croaking, dangerous, dangling, debilitated, decrepit, desultory, dickey, diffident, dilapidated, dithery, doddered, doddering, doddery, doubtful, drawling, drawly, drooping, dubious, dysphonic, easy, fearful, fearing, fearsome, feeble, fidgeting, fidgety, flapping, flimsy, floating, fluctuant, fluttery, fossilized, free, frozen, frozen to death, gerontal, gerontic, goosy, groggy, guttural, half-frozen, hanging, harsh, hawking, hazardous, hoarse, iffy, in a quiver, in fear, inarticulate, indecisive, indistinct, infirm, insecure, insubstantial, jittery, jumpy, lax, lisping, loose, mispronounced, mossbacked, moth-eaten, mousy, mummylike, muzzy, nasal, nervous, palsied, papery-skinned, perilous, precarious, problematic, provisional, quaking, quavering, quavery, questionable, quivering, quivery, rabbity, rachitic, rackety, ramshackle, rattletrap, ravaged with age, relaxed, ricketish, rickety, risky, rocky, rootless, run to seed, rusty, scary, senile, shaking, shifting, shifty, shivering, shivery, shook up, shrinking, shriveled, shuddering, shy, skittery, skittish, slack, slippery, sloppy, snuffling, spidery, spindly, startlish, stifled, strangled, streaming, stricken in years, succussatory, succussive, suspect, teetering, teetery, temporary, tentative, tenuous, thick, throaty, ticklish, timeworn, timid, timorous, tottering, tottery, treacherous, trembling, trembly, tremulant, tremulous, trepidant, trigger-happy, tumbledown, twangy, twitchy, twittery, unanchored, unbound, uncertain, unclear, undependable, undone, unfaithworthy, unfastened, unfixed, unhealthy, unpredictable, unreliable, unsafe, unsettled, unsolid, unsound, unstable, unsteadfast, unsteady, unstuck, unsubstantial, unsubstantiated, unsupported, unsure, untied, untrustworthy, vacillating, velar, vibrating, wavering, weak, with chattering teeth, withered, wizened, wobbling, wobblyROGET THESAURUS
shaky
Danger
N danger, peril, insecurity, jeopardy, risk, hazard, venture, precariousness, slipperiness, instability, defenselessness, exposure, vulnerability, vulnerable point, heel of Achilles, forlorn hope, leap in the dark, road to ruin, faciles descensus Averni, hairbreadth escape, cause for alarm, source of danger, rock ahead, breakers ahead, storm brewing, clouds in the horizon, clouds gathering, warning, alarm, apprehension, in danger, endangered, fraught with danger, dangerous, hazardous, perilous, parlous, periculous, unsafe, unprotected &c (safe, protect), insecure, untrustworthy, built upon, sand, on a sandy basis, wildcat, defenseless, fenceless, guardless, harborless, unshielded, vulnerable, expugnable, exposed, open to, aux abois, at bay, on the wrong side of the wall, on a lee shore, on the rocks, at stake, in question, precarious, critical, ticklish, slippery, slippy, hanging by a thread, with a halter round one's neck, between the hammer and the anvil, between Scylla and Charybdis, between a rock and a hard place, between the devil and the deep blue sea, between two fires, on the edge of a precipice, on the brink of a precipice, on the verge of a precipice, on the edge of a volcano, in the lion's den, on slippery ground, under fire, not out of the wood, unwarned, unadmonished, unadvised, unprepared, off one's guard, tottering, unstable, unsteady, shaky, top-heavy, tumbledown, ramshackle, crumbling, waterlogged, helpless, guideless, in a bad way, reduced to the last extremity, at the last extremity, trembling in the balance, nodding to its fall, threatening, ominous, illomened, alarming, explosive, adventurous, incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim, nam tua res agitur paries dum proximus ardet.Weakness
N weakness, debility, atony, relaxation, languor, enervation, impotence, infirmity, effeminacy, feminality, fragility, flaccidity, inactivity, anaemia, bloodlessness, deficiency of blood, poverty of blood, declension of strength, loss of strength, failure of strength, delicacy, invalidation, decrepitude, asthenia, adynamy, cachexy, cachexia, sprain, strain, reed, thread, rope of sand, house of cards, softling, weakling, infant, youth, weak, feeble, debile, impotent, relaxed, unnerved sapless, strengthless, powerless, weakly, unstrung, flaccid, adynamic, asthenic, nervous, soft, effeminate, feminate, womanly, frail, fragile, shattery, flimsy, unsubstantial, insubstantial, gimcrack, gingerbread, rickety, creaky, creaking, cranky, craichy, drooping, tottering, broken, lame, withered, shattered, shaken, crazy, shaky, palsied, decrepit, languid, poor, infirm, faint, faintish, sickly, dull, slack, evanid, spent, short-winded, effete, weather-beaten, decayed, rotten, worn, seedy, languishing, wasted, washy, laid low, pulled down, the worse for wear, unstrengthened, unsupported, unaided, unassisted, aidless, defenseless, cantilevered (support), on its last legs, weak as a child, weak as a baby, weak as a chicken, weak as a cat, weak as a rat, weak as water, weak as water gruel, weak as gingerbread, weak as milk and water, colorless, non sum qualis eram.Fear
N fear, timidity, diffidence, want of confidence, apprehensiveness, fearfulness, solicitude, anxiety, care, apprehension, misgiving, feeze, mistrust, suspicion, qualm, hesitation, nervousness, restlessness, inquietude, disquietude, worry, concern, batophobia, heartquake, flutter, trepidation, fear and trembling, perturbation, tremor, quivering, shaking, trembling, throbbing heart, palpitation, ague fit, cold sweat, abject fear, mortal funk, heartsinking, despondency, despair, fright, affright, affrightment, boof alarm, dread, awe, terror, horror, dismay, consternation, panic, scare, stampede (of horses), intimidation, terrorism, reign of terror, bug bear, bugaboo, scarecrow, hobgoblin, nightmare, Gorgon, mormo, ogre, Hurlothrumbo, raw head and bloody bones, fee-faw-fum, bete noire, enfant terrible, alarmist, fearing, frightened, in fear, in a fright, haunted with the fear of, afeard, afraid, fearful, timid, timorous, nervous, diffident, coy, faint- hearted, tremulous, shaky, afraid of one's shadow, apprehensive, restless, fidgety, more frightened than hurt, aghast, awe-stricken, horror-stricken, terror-stricken, panic- stricken, awestruck, awe-stricken, horror-struck, frightened to death, white as a sheet, pale, pale as a ghost, pale as death, pale as ashes, breathless, in hysterics, inspiring fear, alarming, formidable, redoubtable, perilous, portentous, fearful, dread, dreadful, fell, dire, direful, shocking, terrible, terrific, tremendous, horrid, horrible, horrific, ghastly, awful, awe-inspiring, revolting, Gorgonian, in terrorem, Int, angels and ministers of grace defend us!, ante tubam trepidat, horresco referens, one's heart failing one, obstupui steteruntque comae et vox faucibus haesit, a dagger of the mind, expertus metuit, fain would I climb but that I fear to fall, fear is the parent of cruelty, Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire, omnia tuta timens, our fears do make us traitors.For further exploring for "shaky" in Webster Dictionary Online