Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

rickety

/ˈɹɪk.ɪ.ti/ adjective

Forms ricketier ricketiest ricketty rickedy

  1. adjective Of an object: not strong or sturdy, as because of poor construction or upkeep; not safe or secure. “He hesitated about climbing such a small, rickety ladder.”
  2. adjective (of a person) Feeble in the joints; tottering. “The rickety old man hardly managed to climb the stairs.”
  3. adjective (pathology) Affected with or suffering from rickets; rachitic.

Synonyms

precarious rachitic shaky tottering unsafe unstable unsteady wobbly bockety bone-shaking craichy cranky creaky creaking drooping flimsy rottletrap shackly shoogly tottersome wonky decrepit debile feeble infirm sapless weak weakly

Antonyms

firm resilient robust rugged safe secure solid stalwart stalworth stout strong sturdy

Etymology

From dialectal ricket (“unstable, rickety”) + -y, and/or ricket (“to move noisily and in a reckless way”) + -y.
Alternatively, and perhaps less likely, from rickets + -y.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Affected with rickets.
  2. adjective Feeble in the joints; imperfect; weak; shaky.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “rickety”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details