wabble

1 of 3

verb (1)

wab·​ble

less common spelling of wobble

intransitive verb

1
a
: to move or proceed with an irregular rocking or staggering motion or unsteadily and clumsily from side to side
b
: tremble, quaver
2
: waver, vacillate

transitive verb

: to cause to wobble

wobble

2 of 3

verb (2)

wob·​ble ˈwä-bəl How to pronounce wobble (audio)
variants or less commonly wabble
wobbled also wabbled; wobbling also wabbling ˈwä-b(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce wobble (audio)

intransitive verb

1
a
: to move or proceed with an irregular rocking or staggering motion or unsteadily and clumsily from side to side
b
: tremble, quaver
2
: waver, vacillate

transitive verb

: to cause to wobble
wobbler noun
or less commonly wabbler
ˈwä-b(ə-)lər How to pronounce wobble (audio)
wobbliness noun
or less commonly wabbliness
ˈwä-blē-nəs How to pronounce wobble (audio)
wobbly adjective
or less commonly wabbly
ˈwä-b(ə-)lē How to pronounce wobble (audio)

wobble

3 of 3

noun

variants or less commonly wabble
1
a
: a hobbling or rocking unequal motion (as of a wheel unevenly mounted)
b
: an uncertainly directed movement
2
: an intermittent variation (as in volume of sound)

Synonyms of wabble

Relevance

Verb (2)

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of wabble in a Sentence

Verb (2) The vase wobbled but didn't fall over. The boy was wobbling along on his bicycle. The table wobbles a little. They have been wobbling in their support of the president's policies.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
But things are starting to wobble. — Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026 Suddenly, the tent jerked and wobbled. — Dolores Brown, Outdoor Life, 17 June 2026
Noun
Cuckoo wobble, tuba walk, boing boing and the whistling thribble. — Christian Wiman, New Yorker, 8 June 2026 And then the quarter gets tight, the bottom line wobbles and the first thing to go is —predictably—the customer experience. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for wabble

Word History

Etymology

Verb (2)

probably from Low German wabbeln; akin to Old English wǣfre restless — more at waver

First Known Use

Verb (2)

1657, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun

1699, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Time Traveler
The first known use of wabble was in 1657

Rhymes for wabble

See All Rhymes for wabble

Browse Nearby Words

Wabash
wabble
wabby
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wabble. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on wabble

Nglish: Translation of wabble for Spanish Speakers

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All