fidget

English

WOTD – 8 August 2010

Etymology

From fidge (“to fidget”) +‎ -et (frequentative ending).

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪdʒ.ɪt/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪdʒɪt

Verb

fidget (third-person singular simple present fidgets, present participle fidgeting or fidgetting, simple past and past participle fidgeted or fidgetted)

(intransitive) To wiggle or twitch; to move around nervously or idly.
- 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
  "Look, Jim, how my fingers fidget," he continued, in the pleading tone. "I can't keep e'm still, not I."
(transitive) To cause to fidget; to make uneasy.
- 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Case of Miss Elliott‎:
  “Do I fidget you ?” he asked apologetically, whilst his long bony fingers buried themselves, string, knots, and all, into the capacious pockets of his magnificent tweed ulster.

Derived terms

fidgeter

Translations

to move around nervously

Bulgarian: шавам (bg) (šavam), въртя се (vǎrtja se)
Catalan: bellugar-se (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 坐立不安 (zh)
Dutch: friemelen (nl)
Esperanto: svingiĝi
Estonian: nihelema
Finnish: sätkiä (fi), sätkytellä (fi), nykiä, nytkiä
French: gigoter (fr), remuer (fr)
German: zappeln (de), herumzappeln

Japanese: せかせかする
Korean: 안절부절못하다 (ko) (anjeolbujeolmothada)
Maori: oreore, mānānana, irirangi
Norwegian: sprelle
Portuguese: estar inquieto
Russian: ёрзать (ru) (jórzatʹ), верте́ться (ru) (vertétʹsja)
Serbo-Croatian: vrpoljiti se (sh), врпољити се
Spanish: revolverse (es)
Tagalog: kuyakoy (tl)

Noun

fidget (plural fidgets)

A nervous wriggling or twitching motion.
(informal) A person who fidgets, especially habitually.

Synonyms

fidgeter

Derived terms

fidget spinner
fidgety

Translations

a person who fidgets

Catalan: belluguet m, ballaruga f
Estonian:
Finnish: sätkyttelijä
French: gigoteur (fr) m

German: Zappelphilipp (de) m
Greek: νευρόσπαστο (el) n (nevróspasto)
Polish: wiercipięta (pl) m
Russian: егоза (ru) f (jegoza)

Anagrams

gifted