shaky

/'ʃeiki/

Thân thiện

The child's hand is shaky as she tries to pour the milk.

Definition

Adjective 1. Not firm, steady, or stable; likely to shake or tremble. - Describes something physically unsteady, insecure, or liable to wobble or vibrate. 2. Not confident, certain, or reliable; weak. - Describes something abstract, such as an argument, a situation, or a person's knowledge, that is uncertain, unsound, or likely to fail.

Usage and Examples

• Physical Unsteadiness:
  • The old table was shaky and couldn't hold the heavy book.
  • After the long run, her legs felt shaky.
• Lack of Confidence or Reliability:
  • He gave a shaky explanation for his lateness.
  • The company's financial future looks shaky.

Advanced Usage

• "to be on shaky ground": To be in an uncertain, risky, or vulnerable position, especially regarding an argument, belief, or situation.
  • His theory is on shaky ground because it lacks evidence.

Variants and Related Words

• Shakily (adverb): In a shaky manner.
  • He smiled shakily after the frightening experience.
• Shakiness (noun): The quality or state of being shaky.
  • The shakiness of the bridge made them nervous.

Synonyms

• Unsteady: Not firmly fixed or balanced.
• Tremulous: Shaking or quivering slightly.
• Wobbly: Tending to move unsteadily from side to side.
• Precarious: Not securely held or in position; dangerously likely to fall or collapse.
• Uncertain: Not able to be relied on; not known or definite.

Antonyms

• Steady: Firmly fixed, supported, or balanced; not shaking or moving.
• Stable: Not likely to give way or overturn; firmly fixed.
• Secure: Fixed or fastened so as not to give way, become loose, or be lost.
• Confident: Feeling or showing certainty about something.

Idioms and Phrases

• Shaky start: A beginning that is not smooth, confident, or successful.
  • The team had a shaky start but improved in the second half.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. not secure; beset with difficulties
   • a shaky marriage
2. vibrating slightly and irregularly; as e.g. with fear or cold or like the leaves of an aspen in a breeze
   • a quaking bog
   • the quaking child asked for more
   • quivering leaves of a poplar tree
   • with shaking knees
   • seemed shaky on her feet
   • sparkling light from the shivering crystals of the chandelier
   • trembling hands
3. inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
   • a rickety table
   • a wobbly chair with shaky legs
   • the ladder felt a little wobbly
   • the bridge still stands though one of the arches is wonky

Từ đồng nghĩa

• precarious
• shivering
• trembling
• rickety
• wobbly
• wonky