Translation guide
Describes unsteady movement, often due to weakness, age, or intoxication. Japanese uses mimetic words and verbs to capture the wobbling, staggering quality.
Describe someone walking with a shaky, unsteady gait, as if about to fall.
Mimetic adverb for staggering or tottering, often with 歩く or する. Common for weakness, dizziness, or drunkenness.
おじいさんがよろよろと歩いている。
The old man is tottering along.
彼は酔ってよろよろしていた。
He was tottering, drunk.
Mimetic word for wobbling or tottering, often from exhaustion, illness, or intoxication. Slightly lighter than よろよろ.
熱でふらふらだ。
I'm tottering from the fever.
Mimetic word for tottering with a clumsy, waddling motion, often used for toddlers or the very weak.
赤ちゃんがよたよた歩き始めた。
The baby started tottering around.
Literally 'plover's gait', meaning a tottering, zigzag walk like a drunkard. Somewhat literary or humorous.
千鳥足で家に帰った。
He tottered home with a drunken stagger.
Describe a building, structure, or system that is unsteady and likely to fall or fail.
Mimetic word for wobbling or tottering, used for unstable objects like a loose tooth or a shaky table.
その机はぐらぐらしている。
That desk is tottering.
Phrase meaning 'about to fall over', natural for describing a tottering structure.
その古い家は今にも倒れそうだ。
The old house is tottering on the verge of collapse.
Describe a system, regime, or plan that is faltering and may fail.
Verb meaning to wobble or be unstable, used figuratively for shaky governments or resolve.
政権がぐらついている。
The administration is tottering.
Idiom: 'a lamp before the wind', meaning something tottering on the brink of collapse. Dramatic and literary.
その会社は風前の灯火だ。
The company is tottering on the brink of ruin.