Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Not firm, solid, or securely in place; unstable.
- adjective Fluctuating; changeable.
- adjective Not even or regular; wavering.
- transitive verb To cause to become unsteady.
from The Century Dictionary.
- 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.
- To make unsteady; cause to be fluctuating.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Not
held firmly in position, physically unstable. - adjective Noted for lack of regularity or uniformity.
- adjective Inconstant in purpose, or volatile in behaviour.
- verb To render unsteady, removing balance.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective subject to change or variation
- adjective not firmly or solidly positioned
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I had an early morning errand to run before work, and was a little unsteady from a sleepless night.
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- 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!
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I know things are going to remain unsteady for a long time, wish as I may it weren’t.
Dani California. « 2008
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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.
Quick action, luck save man who fell onto Boston subway tracks 2011
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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 ..
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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..
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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 2009
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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.
Decoding a New Disease Culprit Amy Dockser Marcus 2010
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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 2006
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His performance is still kind of unsteady on the stump.
yarb commented on the word unsteady
Citation on chitter.
August 9, 2008