in a dither

Idioms and Phrases

Also, all of a dither ; in a flutter or tizzy . In a state of tremulous agitation, as in Planning the wedding put her in a dither , or He tried to pull himself together, but he was all of a dither , or She showed up in such a flutter that our meeting was useless . The noun dither dates from the early 1800s and goes back to the Middle English verb didderen , “to tremble”; in a flutter dates from the mid-1700s; in a tizzy dates from about 1930 and is of uncertain origin.

Related Words

• afraid
• agitated
• anxious
• frightened
• hesitant
• jittery
• nervous
• panicky
• scared
• shy
• skittish
• tense
• timid
• uneasy