rickety
About to collapse
Rickety describes something poorly constructed or structurally unsound, likely to collapse or fall apart: a rickety old bridge, rickety stairs.
The word often applies to furniture or buildings that wobble, creak, or sway.
By extension, rickety can describe systems or plans that seem precarious: a rickety economy, a rickety argument.
Trembling or unstable
- wobblyTending to teeter
- totteringMoving unsteadily, nearly falling
- teeteringUnstably balanced, nearly falling
- precariousDangerously insecure
unsteady · ramshackle · trembling · swaying · rocking · lurching · faltering · wavering
Breaking down gradually
- decrepitWorn by age
- run-downDeteriorated from neglect
- neglectedNot given proper attention
- shabbyWorn and neglected
decaying · ruinous · derelict · tumbledown · ramshackle · broken-down · weather-beaten · battered
Easily broken or damaged
- weakLacking power or force
- feebleWeak and ineffective
- delicateEasily broken or harmed
- flimsyWeak and easily damaged
insubstantial · spindly · skeletal · gaunt · thin · lightweight · brittle · breakable
shaky
Trembling or unstable
- wobblyTending to teeter
- totteringMoving unsteadily, nearly falling
- teeteringUnstably balanced, nearly falling
precarious · unsteady · ramshackle · trembling · swaying · rocking · lurching · faltering · wavering · quivering
crumbling
Breaking down gradually
shabby · decaying · ruinous · derelict · tumbledown · ramshackle · broken-down · weather-beaten · battered · worn-out
fragile
Easily broken or damaged
flimsy · insubstantial · spindly · skeletal · gaunt · thin · lightweight · brittle · breakable · unsubstantial
old
Existing many years
- ancientVery old indeed
- vintageQuality from past eras
- old-fashionedBelonging to earlier times
antique · time-worn · weathered · aged · historic · bygone · dated · creaky · worn · hand-me-down
squeaky
High-pitched and grating
- groaningEmitting deep, pained sounds
- rattlingProducing rapid knocks
- clatteringMaking repeated sharp sounds
grinding · whining · noisy · clanking · jangling · snapping · crackling · rusty · hinges · floorboards
- instabilityinstability, unsteadiness, shakiness, wobbliness, precariousness
- Precariousnessprecarious, unstable, teetering, tottering, wobbly
- stabilitystable, steady, firmness, unstable, equilibrium
- weakweak, feeble, frail, fragile, faint
- worn-outworn, shabby, tattered, threadbare, battered
- broken-downbroken-down, busted, kaput, out of order, inoperative