Synonyms of fitful

fitful

adjective

ˈfit-fəl 

as in sporadic

lacking in steadiness or regularity of occurrence

a night of fitful sleep did not leave me feeling well rested the next morning

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sporadic
• occasional
• intermittent
• sudden
• erratic
• unpredictable
• violent
• irregular
• unsteady
• spasmodic
• discontinuous
• casual
• spastic
• episodic
• spotty
• aperiodic
• volatile
• choppy
• convulsive
• fragmentary
• random
• catchy
• haphazard
• scattered
• changeful
• aimless
• uncertain
• interrupted
• desultory
• varying
• broken
• changing
• unsettled
• unstable
• capricious
• inconstant
• arbitrary
• odd
• stray
• slapdash
• mercurial
• disconnected
• hit-and-miss
• hit-or-miss
• fluctuating
• variable
• mutable
• temperamental
• fickle
• wavering
• changeable
• flickery
• fluid

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• continuous
• constant
• steady
• periodic
• regular
• habitual
• repeated
• stable
• uniform
• even
• stationary
• systematic
• equable
• unchanging
• orderly
• methodical
• changeless
• unvarying
• unrelenting
• unremitting
• unwavering

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective fitful contrast with its synonyms?

The words convulsive and spasmodic are common synonyms of fitful. While all three words mean "lacking steadiness or regularity in movement," fitful implies intermittence, a succession of starts and stops or risings and fallings.

fitful sleep

Where would convulsive be a reasonable alternative to fitful?

Although the words convulsive and fitful have much in common, convulsive suggests the breaking of regularity or quiet by uncontrolled movement.

convulsive shocks

How do spasmodic and fitful relate to one another?

Spasmodic adds to fitful the implication of rapid or violent activity alternating with inactivity.

spasmodic growth

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of fitful

Muller has spent the past 12 years experiencing the ups and downs, fitful starts and stops her sport has endured since first splashing on the Swiss hockey scene as a 15-year-old by scoring her nation’s first bronze-medal clinching goal at the 2014 Sochi Games. —John Wawrow, Chicago Tribune, 21 Feb. 2026

When Leo Lewis O’Neil’s documentary, Slauson Rec, about the actor’s fitful attempt to host a theater workshop premiered at Cannes in 2025, audiences were uncomfortable bearing witness to LaBeouf’s rage. —Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 17 Feb. 2026

Signs of fitful progress appear Despite increasingly authoritarian governments in many parts of Asia and the rest of the world, there are some encouraging signs. —Elaine Kurtenbach, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026

Already, 10 times more water evaporates off Arizona’s arid landscape and fitful rivers. —Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 26 Jan. 2026