wankle

English

Etymology

From Middle English wankel, from Old English wancol (“unstable, unsteady, tottering, vacillating, weak”), from Proto-Germanic *wankulaz (“unsteady, wavering”), from Proto-Indo-European *wank-, *wak-, *wek-, *weg- (“to be unsteady; crooked”). Cognate with Dutch wankel (“shaky, unstable”), Middle High German wankel (“unsteady”), German wanken (“to waver, totter”). See also wonky.

Adjective

wankle (comparative more wankle, superlative most wankle)

1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Weak; unstable; unreliable; not to be depended on.

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Scots

Etymology

From Middle English wankel, wankill, from Old English wancol (“unsteady, skaky”). More at wonky.

Adjective

wankle (comparative mair wankle, superlative maist wankle)

1. weak
2. unsteady

   Your wankle leggs canno support ye / Sae sit ye down, till I exhort ye. ― G. Stuart.