fidget
English edit
Etymology edit
From fidge (“to fidget”) + *-et (frequentative ending), possibly from Middle English *-ten, from Old English -ettan.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
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 the body, especially the fingers, around nervously or idly.
- 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
- "Look, Jim, how my fingers fidget," he continued, in the pleading tone. "I can't keep e'm still, not I."
- 1993, Mike Leigh, Naked, spoken by Johnny (David Thewlis):
- Will you stop fucking about and fidgeting in my peripherals? I'm trying to concentrate.
- (transitive) To cause to fidget; to make uneasy.
- 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], chapter 1, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
to move around nervously
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Noun edit
fidget (plural fidgets)
- A nervous wriggling or twitching motion.
- (informal) A person who fidgets, especially habitually.
- Synonym: fidgeter
- An object intended to be fidgeted with (such as a tool or toy).
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
a person who fidgets
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