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▪ I. unˈsteady, a.
[un-1 7. Cf. OFris. un-, onstedich, MLG. unstedich, MHG. unstætec (G. unstätig); MDu. onstadich, LG. unstadig; etc.]
1. Not steady in position; not firm or secure; not held or kept steady.
1598Florio, Insollare, to make loose or vnsteadie. 1601Holland Pliny II. 440 Some there bee, who..advise their patients to wash their unsteedie teeth with the said infusion. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. i. 258 Walking to and fro on the vnsteddy legges of Dis-rest. 1703De Foe Hymn to the Pillory viii, The Statesmen..Who guide us with unsteady hand. 1743R. Blair Grave 205 The busto moulders, and the deep-cut marble, Unsteady to the steel, gives up its charge. 1800Coleridge Christabel ii. 590 Christabel in dizzy trance Stumbling on the unsteady ground. 1815Scott Guy M. li, He glanced at some passages of the letters with an unsteady eye and an agitated mind. 1867Morris Jason vi. 238 On their quest [they]..began to plough The unsteady plain.
transf.1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay v, Her voice was unsteady, and Glynn noticed that she was trembling.
2. Not steady or constant in respect of conduct or purpose; fluctuating, fickle, wavering.
1598Dallington Meth. Trav. X 2 b, Men of light and vnsteadie braines, haue commonly sudden and sharpe conceites. 16..Middleton, etc. Old Law v. i, Our unsteady fancies Would question whether we yet lived or no. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §49 So fluctuating and unsteady a testimony is the Applause of Popular Councils. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. a 3 b, I could not imagine which way what I lay down in my Book..should in this unsteady Age ever come to be put into Practice. 1712Berkeley Pass. Obed. Wks. 1871 III. 121 The violent humours and unsteady opposite wills of a multitude of savages. a1770Jortin Serm. (1774) III. 16 The tyranny of evil habits, and the easy descent from an unsteddy virtue to those habits. 1819Keats Otho i. i, You have intrigued with these unsteady times To admiration. 1849Froude Nemesis of Faith 136 Unsteady minds began to grow uneasy. 1871B. Taylor Faust II. i. v. 6 Let naught howe'er it sound make thee unsteady.
absol.1828Moir Mansie Wauch Prelim., The unsteady may take a hint concerning what it is possible for one of..a stout heart to go through with. 1872[see unsteady v.].
3. Marked or characterized by absence of steadiness or regularity; not regular, even, or uniform.
1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xiv. §22 If the Motion of the Sun were as unequal as that of a Ship driven by unsteady Winds. 1759Sterne Tr. Shandy ii. ii, The unsteady uses of words, which have perplexed the clearest and most exalted understandings. 1798Southey Henry the Hermit 58 The lamp that stream'd a long unsteady light. 1821Bryant Winter Piece 4 When the unsteady pulse Beat with strange flutterings. 1862A. Meadows Man. Midwifery 186 Unsteady gait; when the woman walks the chest is held back. 1884Truth 13 Mar. 372 The badness of the road is aggravated by unsteady driving, and a defective type of rolling stock.
▪ II. unˈsteady, v.
[un-2 6 a.]
trans. To deprive of steadiness; to render unsteady.
1532W. Walter Guystarde & S. A ij, The wretched lyfe of osyosyte..Unstedyeth the wyt. 1646H. Lawrence Comm. Angels 122 How doth hee unsteddy our steps, and intimidate us, by putting scruples in our wayes. 1748Richardson Clarissa VII. xliv. 176 Unless the shock..(by unsteadying my hand) shall divert my aim from his head. 1812Examiner 24 Aug. 540/1 Shot, shells, grape,..could not unsteady the step..of the.. infantry. 1872H. Bushnell Serm. Living Subj. 245 Waiting always on the unsteady, unsteadies even the sense of principle. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. ii, I was quite unsteadied by all that had fallen out.
Hence unˈsteadying ppl. a.
1865Masson Rec. Brit. Philos. 174 A point whence the appearance of an unusual amount of unsteadying thought may be dated. |