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UNSTEADY
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Irregular inflected form: unsteadied
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not firmly or solidly positioned
Example:
an unfirm stance
Synonyms:
unfirm; unsteady
Classified under:
Similar:
unfixed (not firmly placed or set or fastened)
Derivation:
unsteadiness (the quality of not being steady or securely fixed in place)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Subject to change or variation
Example:
an unsteady voice
Classified under:
Similar:
wobbling ((of sound) fluctuating unsteadily)
uneven (variable and recurring at irregular intervals)
tottering; tottery (unsteady in gait as from infirmity or old age)
shuddering (shaking convulsively or violently)
shifting; shifty (changing position or direction)
quavering; tremulous ((of the voice) quivering as from weakness or fear)
shaky; shivering; trembling (vibrating slightly and irregularly; as e.g. with fear or cold or like the leaves of an aspen in a breeze)
palpitant; palpitating (having a slight and rapid trembling motion)
fluctuating (having unpredictable ups and downs)
aflicker; flickering (shining unsteadily)
faltering (unsteady in speech or action)
convulsive; spasmodic; spastic (affected by involuntary jerky muscular contractions; resembling a spasm)
arrhythmic; jerking; jerky (lacking a steady rhythm)
Also:
unstable (lacking stability or fixity or firmness)
irregular (contrary to rule or accepted order or general practice)
uneven (not even or uniform as e.g. in shape or texture)
agitated (troubled emotionally and usually deeply)
Antonym:
steady (not subject to change or variation especially in behavior)
Derivation:
unsteadiness (the quality of being unsteady--varying and unpredictable)
Context examples:
This integrative research used innovative technological advancements to bring studies of animal movement from closely controlled conditions in the laboratory into the field, where unsteady and intermittent flows are more the norm.
(Scientists discover how birds navigate crosswinds, National Science Foundation)
“And yet,” said I, “I get so miserable and worried, and am so unsteady and irresolute in my power of assuring myself, that I know I must want—shall I call it—reliance, of some kind?”
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Her voice was not unsteady; but her mind was in all the perturbation that such a development of self, such a burst of threatening evil, such a confusion of sudden and perplexing emotions, must create.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
In the evening, when they were all three together, Marianne began voluntarily to speak of him again;—but that it was not without an effort, the restless, unquiet thoughtfulness in which she had been for some time previously sitting—her rising colour, as she spoke,—and her unsteady voice, plainly shewed.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
I ran to fetch it, but I was quite unsteadied by all that had fallen out, and I broke one glass and fouled the tap, and while I was still getting in my own way, I heard a loud fall in the parlour, and running in, beheld the captain lying full length upon the floor.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The young people had been very inconsiderate in forming the plan; they ought to have been capable of a better decision themselves; but they were young; and, excepting Edmund, he believed, of unsteady characters; and with greater surprise, therefore, he must regard her acquiescence in their wrong measures, her countenance of their unsafe amusements, than that such measures and such amusements should have been suggested.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
She seized, with an unsteady hand, the precious manuscript, for half a glance sufficed to ascertain written characters; and while she acknowledged with awful sensations this striking exemplification of what Henry had foretold, resolved instantly to peruse every line before she attempted to rest.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
He is a most extraordinary young man, and whatever be the event, you must feel that you have created an attachment of no common character; though, young as you are, and little acquainted with the transient, varying, unsteady nature of love, as it generally exists, you cannot be struck as I am with all that is wonderful in a perseverance of this sort against discouragement.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
A stout, middle-aged man with enormous owl-eyed spectacles was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, staring with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books. As we entered he wheeled excitedly around and examined Jordan from head to foot.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
