jittery.

Restlessly nervous, with difficulty keeping the body or attention steady.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• feel jittery
• a jittery crowd
• jittery before the vote

On the page

Too much coffee left her jittery before the interview.

The horses grew jittery as the storm approached.

He sounded confident, but his jittery fingers kept moving the chess pieces.

Usage notes

Primary category: fear. Emphasizes agitation or small restless movements; jumpy emphasizes readiness to startle. Stimulants can also make someone jittery. Gradable with more/most; no inflectional endings normally needed. Derived family (not additional inflections or records): jitters.