totter
Walk nearly falling
Totter means to move unsteadily, as if about to fall.
A toddler totters across the room; an elderly person totters down the stairs.
The word suggests weakness, imbalance, or the fragility of age.
Figuratively, institutions or systems can totter: The regime tottered on the brink of collapse.
A totter is an unsteady gait or movement.
Unsteady side-to-side motion
- swayRock back and forth
- lurchAbrupt unsteady movement
- stumbleLose footing momentarily
- staggerWalk unsteadily, sway
shuffle · hobble · falter · toddle · dodder · shamble · waddle · limp
Child learning to walk
Lacking balance or stability
- shakyTrembling or unstable
- wobblyTending to teeter
- precariousDangerously insecure
- unstableProne to sudden change
rickety · trembling · quivering · wavering · swaying · rocking · off-balance · top-heavy
Fragment gradually
- toppleCause to fall
- fallDescend under gravity
- tumbleUncontrolled rolling descent
- buckleFrame-and-prong fastener
sway · lean · tip · unstable · failing · weakening · tilting · listing
wobble
Unsteady side-to-side motion
stagger · shuffle · hobble · falter · toddle · dodder · shamble · waddle · limp · reel
toddler
Child learning to walk
unsteady
Lacking balance or stability
- shakyTrembling or unstable
- wobblyTending to teeter
- precariousDangerously insecure
unstable · rickety · trembling · quivering · wavering · swaying · rocking · off-balance · top-heavy · tippy
crumble
Fragment gradually
buckle · sway · lean · tip · unstable · failing · weakening · tilting · listing
frail
Weak and breakable
infirm · decrepit · shuffling · stooped · unsteady · walker · cane · faltering · weakened · trembling
drunk
Impaired by alcohol
- tipsyMildly intoxicated
- intoxicatedAffected by alcohol
- sloshedVery intoxicated
staggering · swaying · unsteady · reeling · weaving · stumbling · wobbly · lurching
- swayingsway, oscillate, rock, swing, undulate
- stallingstall, stalling, delay, hesitate, procrastinate
- short-leggedcorgi, dachshund, basset hound, wiener dog, sausage dog
- reel thingsfishing reel, film reel, newsreel, highlight reel, spool
tottersteady
Fixed, not fluctuating
balance · stabilize · stand firm · hold steady · anchor
- teeter totterPivoting playground board