jitter

1 of 2

noun

jit·​ter ˈji-tər 

1

jitters ˈji-tərz  plural : a sense of panic or extreme nervousness

had a bad case of the jitters before his performance

2

: the state of mind or the movement of one that jitters

3

: irregular random movement (as of a pointer or an image on a television screen)

also : vibratory motion

jitter

2 of 2

verb

jittered; jittering; jitters

intransitive verb

1

: to make continuous fast repetitive movements

2

: to be nervous or act in a nervous way

Synonyms

Noun

• nerves
• shivers
• butterflies

Examples of jitter in a Sentence

Noun

always got the jitters right before a test

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The dogs' job on marathon day will be to calm race-day jitters at the starting line, where runners can feel overwhelmed or nervous about the trek ahead. —Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025

Liverpool eased their Champions League jitters by thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday; now for the Premier League. —The Athletic Uk Staff, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025

Verb

Wall Street jitters over the White House economic policy continued again, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by more than 300 points in morning trading. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 11 Mar. 2025

This means polling averages can change by a few decimal places day to day — and probabilities may jitter by around a point, which cascades down into uncertainty in our model. —G. Elliott Morris, ABC News, 11 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1931, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for jitter

• bitter
• critter
• fitter
• fritter
• glitter
• hitter
• knitter
• litter
• quitter
• ritter
• splitter
• titter