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Glite Dictionary
fitfulness

fitfulness

7.3
Happening in short, irregular periods that start and stop
  • noun
  • /ˈfɪtfəl.nəs/
translation icon : irregularidad
  • The fitfulness of his sleep left him feeling exhausted in the morning.

Examples

  • The fitfulness of her sleep made her feel exhausted.

  • Periods of fitfulness in the weather made planning the picnic difficult.

  • Her writing showed a fitfulness that sometimes frustrated her editor.

  • His work was characterized by a certain fitfulness that frustrated his colleagues.

  • The fitfulness of her sleep left her feeling exhausted by morning.

  • The fitfulness of the storm made it difficult to predict when it would end.

  • His fitfulness during the lecture distracted the other students.

Synonyms

jerkiness
vsfitfulness
1 6.7

A series of sudden, rough stops and starts that make movement uneven

is a broader lack of steady flow beyond just movement or progress

Antonyms

continuity
52 4.7

A situation where things stay the same or keep happening without big changes

steadiness
4 3.6

The state of being calm and not changing under pressure

How Steady

continuity
52 4.7
steadiness
4 3.6
regularity
19 3.3
periodicity
2 7.6
fitfulness
7.3
irregularity
13 5.1

Surface Forms

fitfulness singular
fitfulnesses plural

Morphology

fitfulness = fitful (transparent) = fit + ful + ness

The noun is a straightforward nominalization of the adjective 'fitful' with the productive suffix '-ness'; the relation is directly inferable from 'fit' -> 'fitful' -> 'fitfulness'.

Etymology

Fitfulness comes from fit, which here means 'a sudden short burst', as in a 'fit of coughing' or 'fits and starts', and the parts -ful and -ness make it 'the state of having many fits'. So, fitfulness means doing something in sudden, irregular bursts rather than steadily.