skittish.

Easily frightened into sudden movement, withdrawal, or unstable behavior.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a skittish horse
• skittish investors
• grow skittish

On the page

The skittish pony refused to pass the flapping banner.

Investors became skittish after the regulator’s announcement.

She was too skittish to stay in the café when the argument started.

Usage notes

Primary category: fear. Common for animals and figurative for investors or crowds; suggests a low threshold for retreat, not sustained terror. Gradable with more/most; no inflectional endings normally needed. Derived family (not additional inflections or records): skittishness.