SHAKY (shakier, shakiest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: shakier    , shakiest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shaky mean? 

• SHAKY (adjective)
  The adjective SHAKY has 3 senses:

1. inclined to shake as from weakness or defect

2. vibrating slightly and irregularly; as e.g. with fear or cold or like the leaves of an aspen in a breeze

3. not secure; beset with difficulties

  Familiarity information: SHAKY used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHAKY (adjective)

Comparative: shakier   
Superlative: shakiest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Inclined to shake as from weakness or defect

Synonyms:

rickety; shaky; wobbly; wonky

Context example:

the bridge still stands though one of the arches is wonky

Similar:

unstable (lacking stability or fixity or firmness)

Derivation:

shake (a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement)

shakiness (a shaky motion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Vibrating slightly and irregularly; as e.g. with fear or cold or like the leaves of an aspen in a breeze

Synonyms:

shaky; shivering; trembling

Context example:

trembling hands

Similar:

unsteady (subject to change or variation)

Derivation:

shakiness (a shaky motion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Not secure; beset with difficulties

Synonyms:

precarious; shaky

Context example:

a shaky marriage

Similar:

insecure; unsafe (lacking in security or safety)

Derivation:

shakiness (the quality of being unstable and insecure)

 Context examples 

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient have periods of feeling shaky, unable to relax, or feeling excessively tense?

(NPI - Periods of Feeling Shaky, Unable to Relax, or Feeling Excessively Tense, NCI Thesaurus)

This can lead to high blood pressure and cause symptoms such as: • Headaches • Sweating • Pounding of the heart • Being shaky • Being extremely pale

(Pheochromocytoma, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

So shaky was he that he could hardly pick up his change, and the clerk had helped him with it.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He blew a hole in the skirt of my kimono, bless his shaky old hand, but we got a jacket on him, and he's to be all right in a week.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Uncertain delineation of cortex areas has sometimes led to shaky comparability of brain imaging findings.

(Connectome map more than doubles human cortex’s known regions, NIH)

Underneath is written in a hand so shaky as to be hardly legible, ‘Beddoes writes in cipher to say H. has told all. Sweet Lord, have mercy on our souls!’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you feel nauseated, sluggish or shaky, seek emergency care.

(Diabetes Complications, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

And the next moment he was standing over it, staggering and swaying on shaky legs, clutching at the air for support, and saying in a voice he did not recognize: D'ye want any more? Say, d'ye want any more?

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It can: • Make you jittery and shaky • Make it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep • Cause headaches or dizziness • Make your heart beat faster or cause abnormal heart rhythms • Cause dehydration • Make you dependent on it so you need to take more of it.

(Caffeine, Food and Drug Administration)