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Synonyms

jittery

American  
[jit-uh-ree] / ˈdʒɪt ə ri /

adjective

jitterier, jitteriest

  1. extremely tense and nervous; jumpy.

    He's very jittery about the medical checkup.
jittery British  
/ ˈdʒɪtərɪ /

adjective

  1. informal nervous and anxious

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • jitteriness noun

Etymology

Origin of jittery

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35; jitter + -y 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Investors appear unusually jittery over technology stocks lately.

From MarketWatch

People are also jittery about hosting World Cup games in a city that has been through so much.

From Barron's

Said Murphy: “They were jittery and excited. How nice it is to be young.”

From Los Angeles Times

It’s not just U.S. investors getting jittery about the impact of artificial intelligence on stocks.

From Barron's

With investors suddenly jittery over software and other tech stocks, the script has flipped.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.