Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Not firm, solid, or securely in place; unstable.
- adj. Fluctuating; changeable: an unsteady market.
- adj. Not even or regular; wavering: an unsteady voice.
- v. To cause to become unsteady.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In mech., having a motion which is not uniform or which does not take place with a constant angular velocity, or around a permanent axis through the center of gravity of the mass. Revolving bodies out of running balance have an unsteady motion.
- Not steady. Not firmly established or settled.
- To make unsteady; cause to be fluctuating.
Wiktionary
- adj. Not held firmly in position, physically unstable.
- adj. Noted for lack of regularity or uniformity.
- adj. Inconstant in purpose, or volatile in behaviour.
- v. To render unsteady, removing balance.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. subject to change or variation
- adj. not firmly or solidly positioned
Etymologies
- Created by adding the prefix un- to steady. Like steady, the word first appeared in English around 1530. The word is comparable to the Old Frisian onstedich, the Low German unstadig etc. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“I had an early morning errand to run before work, and was a little unsteady from a sleepless night.”
“- But her wax-doll face took the fancy of Boys at that period, as afterwards it was the rage with men, till her head, unsteady from the first discovery of her, got fairly turned with admiration, and she ended in a mad-house, that girl!”
“I know things are going to remain unsteady for a long time, wish as I may it weren’t.”
“A surveillance camera captured the Orange Line drama, which began when an unidentified man described as "unsteady on his feet" fell off the southbound platform as a train approached around 3:20 p.m., WCBV-TV and the Boston Globe report.”
USA Today: Quick action, luck save man who fell onto Boston subway tracks
“Mom's high heels may look great but if they're wobbly and unsteady -- in other words, easy to trip over -- consider something more well-grounded ..”
Consumer Reports: Halloween costume tips: Keep them scary -- and safe
“Mom's high heels may look great but if they're wobbly and unsteady -- in other words, easy to trip over -- consider something more well-grounded..”
Consumer Reports: Halloween costume tips: Keep them scary -- and safe
“The job market in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area for the first three months of 2010 is described as unsteady, according to the updated”
Buffalo Business News - Local Buffalo News | Business First of Buffalo
“Although the disease is always fatal, the onset and severity of symptoms, such as unsteady gait, swallowing difficulties and cognitive decline, can vary widely among patients.”
“Lauer seems to have gotten used to the alpha slot since Katie's departure, but Vieira is a hard woman to keep in the second-banana position, and this morning there seemed to be a kind of unsteady equilibrium between them.”
You Can Take the Woman Out of “The View”… - Tuned In - TIME.com
“His performance is still kind of unsteady on the stump.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘unsteady’.
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Genes
Interesting gene names. Some of these may have changed recently (to something less offensive/funny).
http://www.genenames.org/
tinman, agnostic, dreadlocks, Van Gogh, fruitless, lava lamp, ariadne, cheap date, ken and barbie, I'm not dead yet, I'm not dead yet 2, manic fringe and 1192 more... -
Words For Novel (Part 2)
fable, sprite, syphilitic, anvil, wonderstruck, vertigo, bridled, tufted, fettered, savvy, tweed fedora, tryst and 255 more...
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eesome
Includes any intangible conceivable independently of Hom. Sap.
depthless, overspire, unsteady, thitherward, rile, munchable, covet, pastinaceous, mirtle, slonk, tink, inerrarable and 345 more...
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Un-word List
untrammelled, untoward, unenthusiastically, unenthusiastic, undaunted, uncanny, unceasing, unbridled, unacknowledged, unacquainted, unadorned, unaffected and 239 more...
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The Octopus
Words gleaned from Frank Norris's 1901 novel The Octopus
deerhound, diapason, thitherward, chitter, unsteady, wiper, overspire, inanition, sheen, hiccough, quirt, broncho and 44 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for unsteady.
yarb Citation on chitter. Aug 8, 2008