1
as in excitable
easily excited by nature
the skittish colt leapt up when we approached
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in timid
easily frightened
the cat is skittish around people she doesn't know
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in volatile
likely to change frequently, suddenly, or unexpectedly
a skittish housing market had both buyers and sellers on edge
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of skittish
Even before the spate of executive orders, firms were skittish about finding themselves at odds with the new Administration.
—
Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2025
According to a post from the Green Lake Police Department, after weighing their options, an officer flew a drone in windy conditions and used it to steer the skittish, exhausted animals toward the shore.
—Rhiannon Saegert, Kansas City Star, 20 Mar. 2025
Nvidia made a compelling case as to why efficiencies that have made the market skittish in recent weeks should drive higher demand over time.
—Michael Bloom, CNBC, 20 Mar. 2025
Stubbornly high mortgage rates, which are still hovering around the 7 percent mark and are expected to remain above 6 percent through 2025 and 2026, are making buyers skittish about purchasing properties—forcing sellers to slash prices in an attempt to convince them to close the deal.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for skittish
Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2025
According to a post from the Green Lake Police Department, after weighing their options, an officer flew a drone in windy conditions and used it to steer the skittish, exhausted animals toward the shore.
—Rhiannon Saegert, Kansas City Star, 20 Mar. 2025
Nvidia made a compelling case as to why efficiencies that have made the market skittish in recent weeks should drive higher demand over time.
—Michael Bloom, CNBC, 20 Mar. 2025
Stubbornly high mortgage rates, which are still hovering around the 7 percent mark and are expected to remain above 6 percent through 2025 and 2026, are making buyers skittish about purchasing properties—forcing sellers to slash prices in an attempt to convince them to close the deal.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for skittish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skittish
Adjective
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Its participants are easily excitable and just as effortlessly aggrieved, their collective nervous system tied somewhat intrinsically to social media notifications.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
17 Apr. 2025
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And if Django’s Billy Crash tapped into Goggins’s ability to thrive with brutal spite, Mannix plays more to Goggins’s excitable energy and capacity for being clever (even when his character seems to be anything but).—
Daniel Dockery,
Vulture,
6 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In general at the N4G summit, and in particular at a side event at the Brazilian embassy themed around food systems and climate change, discussions of climate change were timid about mentioning industrial livestock’s role in land-use change.—
Christine Ro,
Forbes.com,
15 Apr. 2025
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Wu was seen as timid at the beginning of the migrant crisis, staying in the background while Healey seized a Roxbury community rec center as a migrant shelter.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
25 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Over the past four years, SOFI's annual returns have been considerably more volatile than the S&P 500, with returns of 27% in 2021, -71% in 2022, 116% in 2023, and 55% in 2024.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
29 Apr. 2025
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Income tax is more volatile and susceptible to the ups and downs within the economy, Greller said.—
Maya Wilkins,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Dellow was nervous about rush hour traffic, but the Uber dropped Nikishin off at 6:45 p.m. at the airport.—
Peter Baugh,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
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Your younger colleague is nervous about each conversation.—
Jay Sullivan,
Forbes.com,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Van Hollen added that Abrego Garcia was held in a cell with 25 other people and fearful of other prisoners who taunted him.—
Ivan Pereira,
ABC News,
18 Apr. 2025
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His family, angry and fearful, even staged an intervention to force the former teetotaler into rehab.—
Gary Goldstein,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The source said Republicans view Powell as an important pillar of stability in the U.S. economy amid Trump’s unpredictable tariff war against foreign trading partners, including allies such as Canada, Japan, South Korean and Taiwan.—
Alexander Bolton,
The Hill,
22 Apr. 2025
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Spring temps can be unpredictable, so don’t forget to add on a pashmina-style shawl and some statement earrings.—
Jené Luciani Sena,
FOXNews.com,
21 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Skittish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skittish. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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