fidgety

adjective

fidg·​ety ˈfi-jə-tē How to pronounce fidgety (audio)
1
: inclined to fidget
2
: making unnecessary fuss : fussy
fidgetiness noun

Examples of fidgety in a Sentence

He grew more fidgety with each passing hour. I get too fidgety to sit after a few minutes in a waiting room.
Recent Examples on the Web Karinchak, who is notoriously fidgety on the mound, was charged with a ball on an 0-2 count to the Mariners’ J.P. Crawford. Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2023 The lyrics were sly and funny but could also detour, like a fidgety schoolkid sitting by the window, into daydreams. James Poniewozik, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2023 Before Globe Santa and after Globe Santa: One showing a bored, fidgety child and harried mom; the other, a happy child and happy mom. Ellen Bartlett, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Dec. 2022 Often encircled by his rapt yet fidgety students, Dance Teacher Pat (Michael Wood) is a zealot who saddles his team with a choreographed tribute to Gandhi. Celia Wren, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2022 Charles stands as the bridge to generations and generations of inevitability — all the way down to 9-year-old Prince George, the someday-king with a tousle of blond hair and fidgety energy. Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2022 Our planet is a shifting mass of molten rock that continually migrates beneath the crust; even the deep mantle and its overlying upper mantle are fidgety, causing earthquakes. Manasee Wagh, Popular Mechanics, 16 Aug. 2022 At DreamMore, the staff scrambled to distract the adults with no backup plans and the fidgety children whose parents had packed swim trunks but not snowsuits. Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2022 The man was very fidgety and could not stop moving around. cleveland, 1 May 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fidgety.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1736, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of fidgety was circa 1736

Dictionary Entries Near fidgety

Cite this Entry

“Fidgety.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fidgety. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.

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