jittery

adjective

jit·​tery ˈji-tə-rē 

1

: suffering from the jitters

2

: marked by jittering movements

jitteriness

ˈji-tə-rē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms of jittery

• excitable
• nervous

Examples of jittery in a Sentence

I always get jittery when I have to give a speech.

The latest economic news has made some investors jittery.

Recent Examples on the Web

The move did not appear to reassure jittery traders as prices continued to climb. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 6 Mar. 2026

Each section of the track could potentially get stuck in your head for days, from its jittery verse backed by swooning vocal harmonies to the way the bridge shifts into a happy-go-lucky gallop. —Jude Noel, Pitchfork, 4 Mar. 2026

Many of the world’s most valuable software stocks have seen major selloffs in recent months as investors got jittery and worried about the future of the once-vaunted software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model. —Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 27 Feb. 2026

Nvidia reported stronger-than-expected earnings on Wednesday, possibly calming a jittery market. —J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 26 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1931, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for jittery

• glittery