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Glite Dictionary
🎵 Music speed 🚶 Walking back and forth
pacing

pacing

7 3.4
Walking slowly back and forth because you feel anxious or are thinking
  • noun
  • /ˈpeɪsɪŋ/
translation icon : andar de un lado a otro
  • She was pacing around the room, lost in thought about her upcoming presentation.
  • resume pacing
  • stop pacing
  • pacing back and forth

Examples

  • David would be probably pacing the front lawn of his new home.

  • But she's acting erratic and she's shouting and she's pacing back and forth.

  • The chief stopped his pacing and went right over to the lead agent.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • But the "activity" of pacing was doing nothing to stop her brain from working.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Mr. Wise, that pacing is not helping.

    Jupiter Ascending (2015)

  • I also noticed that my pacing was really slow.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Adam's head came up as he stopped his pacing and looked in her direction.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Hoot stopped pacing and looked out the kitchen window for a while.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • So if I'm just pacing back and forth contemplating my life decisions, then it actually doesn't work.

  • Vivian is in the living room, pacing, edgy; the doorbell rings.

    Fiction book (1990)

Antonyms

stillness
38 3.5

A time of complete quiet and no movement that feels calm

calmness
9 2.7

A state without strong feelings or worry in your mind

How Restless

pacing
7 3.4
shuffling
3.9

Surface Forms

pacing singular
pacings plural

Morphology

pacing = pace (transparent) = pace + ing

A straightforward gerund/nominalization of the verb 'pace' referring to the action of walking back and forth; learners who know 'pace' should recognize this meaning.

Etymology

Pacing comes from the word pace, which originally meant 'step'. So when someone is 'pacing' a room they are taking slow, regular steps, often because they are worried or deep in thought.