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

• butterflies
• dither
• heebie-jeebies
• jimjams
• nerves
• screaming meemies
• shakes
• shivers
• whim-whams
• willies

Examples of jitter in a Sentence

Noun

always got the jitters right before a test

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The recent dip in crude prices, largely driven by temporary market jitters over President Donald Trump’s America First trade strategy, has energy analysts wringing their hands. —Dan Eberhart, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025

European markets returned from the long Easter weekend on a negative note, amid continuing jitters around the U.S. economy and global trade. —Ganesh Rao,chloe Taylor,holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 22 Apr. 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