different between flighty vs unsteady

English

Etymology

From flight +? -y. Compare Dutch vluchtig (“volatile; fleeting; cursory”), German flüchtig (“volatile; fleeting; momentary; quick”), Danish flygtig (“elusive; evasive”), Swedish flyktig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fla?ti/

Adjective

flighty (comparative flightier, superlative flightiest)

1. Given to unplanned and silly ideas or actions.
2. (of a bird) That flies easily or often.
   • 2013, Diego Gil, Henrik Brumm, Avian Urban Ecology

     "We know that flighty birds suffer from greater risk of raptor predation, and I assume that it is useful to understand the effects of urbanization because flighty species may be more vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance."

3. (obsolete) Swift.

Translations

English

Etymology

From un- +? steady. Like steady, the word first appeared in English around 1530. The word is comparable to Old Frisian onstedich, Low German unstadig, etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?st?di/
• Rhymes: -?di
• Hyphenation: un?steady

Adjective

unsteady (comparative unsteadier, superlative unsteadiest)

1. Not held firmly in position, physically unstable.

   • "Mid-Lent, and the Enemy grins," remarked Selwyn as he started for church with Nina and the children. Austin, knee-deep in a dozen Sunday supplements, refused to stir; poor little Eileen was now convalescent from grippe, but still unsteady on her legs; her maid had taken the grippe, and now moaned all day: […]"

2. Lacking regularity or uniformity.
3. Inconstant in purpose, or volatile in behavior.

Synonyms

• (not held or fixed securely and likely to fall over): precarious, rickety, shaky; see also Thesaurus:rickety
• (lacking regularity or uniformity): chaotic, irregular, unstable; see also Thesaurus:unsteady

Antonyms

• steady

Derived terms

• unsteadily

Translations

Verb

unsteady (third-person singular simple present unsteadies, present participle unsteadying, simple past and past participle unsteadied)

1. To render unsteady, removing balance.

Anagrams

• Dauntsey, unstayed