1
as in uneasy
lacking or denying rest
the worried mother spent a restless night, tossing and turning in bed for hours
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in anxious
marked by or causing agitation or uncomfortable feelings
the figure skater was visibly restless as she waited for her scores to be posted
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of restless
Turner-Seed’s own writing lays bare a struggle for self-fulfillment, to reconcile the traditional values pushed by her Jewish immigrant parents with a restless need to discover and make her own way.
—
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025
Bahrain is ruled by Sunnis and has a mostly Shiite population permanently restless over its servile condition.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 13 June 2025
Nothing rings more true than the trope of the restless adolescent.
—Stephanie Sengwe, People.com, 7 June 2025
Across 17 restless songs, packed into 30 minutes, Mel V growls and scream-raps her way through a vicious yet silly mind dump.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for restless
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025
Bahrain is ruled by Sunnis and has a mostly Shiite population permanently restless over its servile condition.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 13 June 2025
Nothing rings more true than the trope of the restless adolescent.
—Stephanie Sengwe, People.com, 7 June 2025
Across 17 restless songs, packed into 30 minutes, Mel V growls and scream-raps her way through a vicious yet silly mind dump.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for restless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for restless
Adjective
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Edan Lui of Hong Kong boy band Mirror will also make his Korean drama debut in the new season, joining the cast in a role that pairs him in an uneasy alliance with Kim Do-gi.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
25 June 2025
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Repeatedly returning to themes of globalization and alienation, the 55-year-old director has meticulously chronicled his country’s uneasy plunge into the 21st century as rampant industrialization risks deadening those left behind.—
Tim Grierson,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2025
Adjective
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But perhaps the most persuasive testimony came from Mrs. Hall herself, who embodied the defense’s portrait of a loyal, unsuspecting wife, home alone and anxious over her husband’s mysterious disappearance.—
Jordan Runtagh,
People.com,
27 June 2025
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Other dogs, especially those that are anxious or suffer from separation anxiety, might find comfort in your scent.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 June 2025
Adjective
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In the upcoming ninth season of Rehab Addict, which premieres on June 24, Curtis restores both that Wyoming home and a troubled Detroit property that had been invaded by squatters.—
Erin Clements,
People.com,
24 June 2025
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The long and troubled history of the would-be Venus spacecraft, known as Kosmos-482, can shed some light on these key questions, scientists say.—
Leonard David,
Space.com,
23 June 2025
Adjective
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Content moderators are workers who remove disturbing content from social media—data which is often then used to train AI systems like ChatGPT or Facebook’s algorithms.—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
19 June 2025
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That still wasn’t as disturbing as the sight of Solène washing her feet in the crew mess sink.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
17 June 2025
Adjective
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More substantively, the ideological contours of the new Resistance still feel unsettled.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
20 June 2025
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But the broader future of federal support for science remains unsettled.—
John Drake,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
Adjective
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Negotiations on this year’s New York City government budget are coming down to the wire — with several sticking points remaining as talks turned tense Thursday between City Council Democrats and Mayor Adams’ administration, according to sources familiar with the matter.—
Chris Sommerfeldt,
New York Daily News,
26 June 2025
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Oof, this convo between Jay and Demetrius is tense as hell.—
Emma Specter,
Vogue,
25 June 2025
Adjective
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On top of that, Iran has its own restive population of some 20 million ethnic Azeris—making up perhaps as much as a quarter of the Iranian population.—
Zaur Shiriyev,
Foreign Affairs,
26 May 2025
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Moving out of Seattle also put almost 2,000 miles between the company’s top brass and its restive unions, which might have been one of the biggest attractions from the corner-office point of view.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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After a decade of mayhem, property destruction, and nervous soldiers firing into a crowd, the rebellion broke into gunfire between British regulars and American militia at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.—
Dan McLaughlin,
National Review,
17 June 2025
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Around liberal America, these were the questions asked with a nervous laugh at dinner parties, in office small talk, on university campuses.—
Carlo Versano,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Restless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/restless. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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