different between shaky vs doddery

English

Etymology

shake +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??e?ki/
• Rhymes: -e?ki

Adjective

shaky (comparative shakier, superlative shakiest)

1. Shaking or trembling.

   a shaky spot in a marsh

   a shaky hand

2. Nervous, anxious.

   He’s a nice guy but when he talks to me, he acts shaky.

   • 2006, Paul A. Grayson, ?Philip W. Meilman, College Mental Health Practice (page 11)

     For the college clinician, restless nights after letting a shaky student walk out of the office are an occupational hazard. Are the student's safety assurances credible? Will he or she make it safely through the weekend?
3. (of wood) Full of shakes or cracks; cracked.

   shaky timber

   For quotations using this term, see Citations:shaky.

4. Easily shaken; tottering; unsound.

   a shaky constitution

   shaky business credit

5. Wavering; undecided.

Synonyms

• (not held or fixed securely and likely to fall over): precarious, rickety, unsteady, tottering, unsafe, unstable, wobbly

Derived terms

• shakiness
• shakycam

Translations

Anagrams

• hayks

English

Etymology

dodder +? -y

Adjective

doddery (comparative more doddery, superlative most doddery)

1. Doddering, trembly, shaky.
   • 1994, Laurie R King, The Beekeeper's Apprentice

     That is not to say that he became a doddery old man — far from it. He was just a bit thoughtful at times, and I would catch him looking at me pensively...

   • 1999, Terence Rattigan, Benoît Delhomme, David Mamet, The Winslow Boy

     The old boy's so doddery now he can hardly finish the course at all. I timed him today. It took him seventy-five seconds...

Translations