wanklyadj.
/ˈwaŋkli/, U.S. /ˈwæŋkli/ Chiefly English regional. Now rare.
Weak, feeble; unstable, wobbly; unsteady, not to be relied upon, precarious; = wankle adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily weakness > [adjective]
wokec897
unstronga900
unmightyeOE
feeblec1175
strengthlessc1175
unwieldc1220
weaka1300
frailc1384
unwieldyc1386
unthendec1425
dissolutec1450
unsure?a1475
feyc1475
simple1477
unfirm1483
unsinewed?1541
wash1548
weakling1557
ladylike1566
silly1567
water weak1592
washya1631
wankle1686
foible1715
unmuscular1725
nerveless1792
wankly1795
shilpit1813
wankya1825
sinewless1829
weedy-looking1835
queachy1859
insubstantiala1861
paper-backed1888
weak-fleshed1967
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > [adjective] > tottering > unstable
unstable1390
unsteadfasta1400
tickle1515
unstayed1594
unsteady1598
shittle1601
firmless1605
flitty1642
totty1652
shuttlec1682
unfirm1697
wankly1795
wankya1825
cockery1825
wobbly1833
tottlish1835
earthquaky1837
tottling1849
shaky1850
cockly1859
unsteadied1865
shoggy1866
wankle1869
wibblety-wobblety1877
cockerty1895
tipsy1895
rocky1900
wibbly-wobbly1901
tottly1905
topply1913
wibbly1914
1795 S. J. Pratt Gleanings through Wales I. xviii. 271 I am a widow woman..—always weak and wankly.
1868 Notes & Queries 26 Sept. 295/1 [Huntingdonshire] She were looking so wankley and bleak.
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Wankelly, changeable, precarious... ‘The weather's wankelly the noo.’
1902 A. Ollivant Danny xxiv. 182 I'm far ower wankly to work.
1965 K. M. Briggs Folktales of Eng. (1968) vii. 51 There were a little, small, young dunk foal... 'E trit-trotted off on 'is wankly little legs.
1972 K. Burke Let. 3 Aug. in Sel. Corr. K. Burke & M. Cowley (1988) 386 Jeez, maybe I know more than you, how it is to get wankly on one's pins.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1795