totter

Meaning

Verb

1. (intransitive) To walk, move or stand unsteadily or falteringly; threatening to fall.
2. (figuratively, intransitive) To be on the brink of collapse.
3. (archaic, intransitive) To collect junk or scrap.

Noun

1. (intransitive) An unsteady movement or gait.
2. (archaic, intransitive) A rag and bone man.

Synonyms

stagger

sway

wobble

reel

lurch

waddle

teeter

toddle

falter

stumble

waver

shake

🫨

tremble

dodder

pitch

coggle

rock

🪨

vacillate

paddle

be unsteady

seesaw

roll

wiggle

careen

flounder

hesitate

shaky

slip

swag

tilt

be lopsided

rock to and fro

move over

bumble

shamble

shillyshally

slip and fall

lunge

stalk

lumber

unsteady on one’s feet

swagger

loose

swing

limp

teeter-totter

tergiversate

stagger around

hickey horse

keel

Translations

chanceler

schwanken

barcollare

torkeln

wankelen

waggelen

taumeln

tambalear

wackeln

titubear

vacilar

trontollar

cambalear

vacilar

aarzelen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtɒtə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: totren

Cognate with Scots: tolter

Inherited from Old English: tealtrian

Cognate with Dutch: touteren

Cognate with Norwegian: -

Cognate with Northern Frisian: talt

In summary

From Middle English totren, toteren, from earlier *tolteren (compare dialectal English tolter (“to struggle, flounder”); Scots tolter (“unstable, wonky”)), from Old English tealtrian (“to totter, vacillate”), from Proto-Germanic *taltrōną, a frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *taltōną (“to sway, dangle, hesitate”), from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul- (“to shake, hesitate”).
Cognate with Dutch touteren (“to tremble”), Norwegian dialectal totra (“to quiver, shake”), North Frisian talt, tolt (“unstable, shaky”). Related to tilt.