fitful
7
5.8
- adjective
- /ˈfɪtfəl/
:
irregular
- At last, he would fall into a fitful, unrewarding sleep.
- fitful sleep
- fitful process
You know, the basic things like, you know, caffeine and alcohol can can disrupt sleep and, and cause for more fitful sleep.
- You know, the basic things like, you know, caffeine and alcohol can can disrupt sleep and, and cause for more fitful sleep.
- I, I like to, I, I, I would say have pretty fitful sleep.
Examples
-
If you fall asleep in a in a disturbed state of mind, you're going to have fitful, restless sleep and you're going to have bad dreams.
-
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well.
-
"Two, three, at the most four hours of fitful sleep was about it.
Academic text (2002) -
The sun was low in the sky, and a cold fitful wind had begun to blow.
Fiction book (1991) -
"We hardly had any relief at all, did our best to sleep, but in any case, it was rather fitful."
-
After four hours of fitful sleep, Jeremy Fox woke in the night.
Fiction book (2001) -
We find Hector waking from a fitful sleep behind some rocks.
Fiction book (1993) -
Dusty lightbulbs in metal cages cast a fitful glow over the concrete floor.
Fiction book (1998) -
The flashlight in his hand flickered and shed fitful beams of light onto the road and the deserted yards.
Fiction book (1996) -
After several hours of fitful sleep, I woke up feeling restless and tired.
Synonyms
3
3.8
Happening sometimes and stopping at other times
2
8.1
Happening suddenly in short, irregular bursts or movements
1
7.4
Happens at irregular times, starting and stopping
1
8.5
Happening in short, intense periods rather than continuously
Happening with short pauses that stop and start again
Antonyms
How Continuous
141
3.7
870
1.0
35
6.5
7
5.8
285
2.8
35
7.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Fitful comes from the small word fit, which means a sudden burst (think 'a coughing fit' or 'a fit of anger'), and the ending -ful meaning 'full of'. So fitful is 'full of fits', meaning it comes and goes in short bursts and does not stay steady.