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
restlessly
adverb
restlessness
noun
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 on the Web
These titles can offer another voice in the darkness, ready to soothe a restless mind.
—
M. L. Rio, The Atlantic, 16 July 2024
Listen to this article The restless spirit of Woody Guthrie has a way of rising up again every few years to fire up a new throng of activists, artists and adventurers with his songs of hope, freedom, change and compassion.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 7 July 2024
To capture that horror, Klimov uses both a restless camera and heavy use of a Steadicam, gliding through a devastated, perpetually overcast countryside and depicting one disturbing incident after another.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 26 May 2024
His mercurial cinematography, thrashing and restless for so much of the film, arrives at a kind of floating serenity, augmented by gleaming digital effects.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for restless 
M. L. Rio, The Atlantic, 16 July 2024
Listen to this article The restless spirit of Woody Guthrie has a way of rising up again every few years to fire up a new throng of activists, artists and adventurers with his songs of hope, freedom, change and compassion.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 7 July 2024
To capture that horror, Klimov uses both a restless camera and heavy use of a Steadicam, gliding through a devastated, perpetually overcast countryside and depicting one disturbing incident after another.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 26 May 2024
His mercurial cinematography, thrashing and restless for so much of the film, arrives at a kind of floating serenity, augmented by gleaming digital effects.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for restless
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'restless.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Restless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/restless. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
restless
adjective
rest·less
ˈrest-ləs 
1
: being without rest : giving no rest
a restless night
2
: always moving
the restless sea
3
: showing one to be uneasy
restless pacing back and forth
restlessly
adverb
restlessness
noun
Medical Definition
restless
adjective
rest·less
ˈrest-ləs
1
: deprived of rest or sleep
the patient was restless from pain
2
: providing no rest
a restless night
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