Flickery

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Marked by abrupt, rapid fluctuations in illumination or motion, giving an impression of inconsistency or instability in visual phenomena
2. Exhibiting a shaking or quivering quality that implies delicacy and a lack of steady presence
3. Showing fast and unsteady shifts in brightness or motion that suggest a lack of stability ; displaying a shaking or shivering look that indicates fragility or unreliability

Etymology: "Flickery" is simply "flicker" plus the suffix "-y," which turns a noun or verb into an adjective meaning "characterised by" or "full of" the thing named. "Flicker" itself is an older English word, traced back through Old English and Germanic roots, with the Proto-Germanic base connected to the idea of fluttering or quick movement. The suffix "-y" has a longer history than the word it is attached to here. It descends from Latin "-arius" through Old French "-ier", reaching Middle English as "-er" and later "-y", so the same ending that gives English words like "gritty" and "sandy" passed through French before settling into its present form. The result describes something that flickers: light that wavers, a candle, a television screen, or a hand that trembles. Its meaning of shaky and unsteady grows naturally from the flicker's sense of unsteady, wavering movement.