unsteady
part of speech
adjective (unsteady, unsteadier, unsteadiest); adverb unsteadily
meaning for a pupil
1) Unsteady means not firm, likely to wobble, shake or fall: an unsteady ladder, unsteady legs. tree →
2) Unsteady means not regular or changing a lot: an unsteady voice, an unsteady heartbeat. tree →
sense in the lessons
In safety lessons: never climb on an unsteady chair or ladder; someone unsteady on their feet may need help. In stories, a frightened voice is unsteady. In science, an unsteady object is not stable. Phrases: unsteady on his feet, an unsteady hand, unsteady ladder.
examples
- The old ladder was unsteady, so Dad held it. tree →
- After the ride, I felt unsteady on my feet. tree →
- Her voice was unsteady because she was nervous. tree →
- The baby took a few unsteady steps. tree →
- Don't stand on that unsteady chair. tree →
- He walked unsteadily across the ice. tree →
- “I'll beg meat for you!” said he in an unsteady voice. tree →
note
«Un-» + «steady». Comparatives: unsteadier, unsteadiest, or «more unsteady». Similar: wobbly, shaky. Opposite: steady, stable.
In the corpora
- Climbing on unsteady things is a common cause of falls at home.
- Pushing past people instead of saying «excuse me» can knock over older or unsteady people.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «unsteady» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.