restless

adjective rest·less \ ˈrest-ləs \

Updated on: 22 Apr 2018

Definition of restless

1 : lacking or denying rest : uneasy

a restless night

2 : continuously moving : unquiet

the restless sea

3 : characterized by or manifesting unrest especially of mind

restless pacing

; also : changeful, discontented

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restlessly

adverb

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restlessness

noun

See restless defined for English-language learners

See restless defined for kids

Examples of restless in a Sentence

restless children who can't sit still
The audience was becoming restless.
He started to feel restless and discontent in his job.

Recent Examples of restless from the Web

In the car, Winston was restless, unable to sit down or stay still.

— janice gary, Longreads, "Bang and Vanish," 18 Apr. 2018
Just like his team, McMillan is restless, driven, not satisfied.

— clifton brown, Indianapolis Star, "This is what's keeping Indiana Pacers coach Nate McMillan awake at night," 13 Apr. 2018
Small wonder that the American people were restless.

— david holahan, The Christian Science Monitor, "'The Class of '74' chronicles a young, liberal, and impatient House of Representatives," 12 Apr. 2018
Bissell’s Marlene is striking and smart, hungry and restless, cruel and narcissistic.

— mike fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "'Top Girls' keep others down in excellent Renaissance production," 8 Apr. 2018
Fans were getting pretty restless at the east entrance of the festival.

— kellie hwang, azcentral, "Country Thunder Arizona 2018: Craziest, coolest things we saw at the festival," 5 Apr. 2018
The new generations of flamenco creators are artistically restless, too.

— marina harss, New York Times, "A Fenómeno of the Flamenco World," 6 Mar. 2018
Birth of a sport Pickleball came into being in 1965 outside of Seattle, when former state Rep. Joel Pritchard came home from a golf game to find his family bored and restless.

— kate elizabeth queram, Howard County Times, "Pickleball: the little sport that could," 4 Apr. 2018
Here's the thing: Merrifield won’t be as restless for the next 161 Royals games.

— pete grathoff, kansascity, "Whit Merrifield calls his first Opening Day with the Royals 'pretty awesome' | The Kansas City Star," 29 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'restless.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of restless

before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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restless Synonyms

RESTLESS Defined for English Language Learners

restless

adjective

Definition of restless for English Language Learners

: feeling nervous or bored and tending to move around a lot : not relaxed or calm
: unhappy about a situation and wanting change
: having little or no rest or sleep