jittery
25
4.5
- adjective
- /ˈdʒɪtəri/
- After drinking too much coffee, he became jittery and couldn't sit still.
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Watch on YouTubeI was very, very, very jittery for quite some time.
- I was very, very, very jittery for quite some time.
- You know, I got to say I think it was My nerves are more jittery here at home.
- And if it goes on for long enough, what happens is first of all, you will feel really jittery and antsy, which we describe as anxiety.
- Does not caffeine doesn't make me jittery.
- And you know, my first fight, for example, you know, you get tense, you feel that that feeling of like jittery feeling.
- You feel good, you feel bad, you feel great, you feel like shit, you feel really jittery, feel really calm.
Examples
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Traders and merchants were jittery about their investments in the turbulent Malay States.
Fiction book (2000) -
It's got me jittery just thinking about it.
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I was very, very, very jittery for quite some time.
-
- You just get jittery a couple of days before it comes out.
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This town is making you so jittery.
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I was feeling a little jittery.
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I guess I'm a little jittery.
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You seem jittery tonight.
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And now, facing the frontier of it, Matt was ecstatic, jittery, and terrified all at once.
Fiction book (2002) -
Inside me, the anticipation of the night was like a living thing, jittery and joyful.
Fiction book (2001)
Synonyms
∞
1.3
Feeling worried and easily frightened
230
2.7
Feeling worried or nervous about something that might happen
87
5.0
Nervous and tense so you cannot relax
59
4.3
Feeling nervous and easily startled by sudden sounds
43
7.0
Feeling nervous and confused after a sudden, unexpected event
35
5.2
Feeling nervous and tense, easily upset
13
4.6
Feeling nervous and unable to stay still
10
9.1
Feeling nervous and acting in strange, unpredictable ways
9
4.8
Unable to stay still because you feel nervous
6
8.3
Not able to stay still because you feel impatient or nervous
3
6.5
Feeling worried and tense before a difficult event
2
8.9
Feeling excited and nervous while waiting for something
2
4.9
Feeling nervous and excited with a quick, shaky feeling in the body
1
8.7
Moving quickly and lightly because it is nervous or easily startled
1
9.9
Feeling nervous and restless before an important event
1
7.4
Feeling nervous and hurried after something sudden happens
Antonyms
How Nervous
Surface Forms
Morphology
jittery = jitter (transparent) = jitter + y
The adjective is a straightforward adjectival derivation from 'jitter' meaning 'characterized by or full of nervousness', which B1 learners can readily infer.
Etymology
Jittery comes from the short word jitter plus the ending -y; jitter sounds like quick shaking and is like tremble ('to shake'). So to be jittery is to feel nervous and move in quick, jumpy ways.