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Synonyms

jittery

American  
[jit-uh-ree] / ˈdʒɪt ə ri /

adjective

jitterier, jitteriest

  1. extremely tense and nervous; jumpy.

    He's very jittery about the medical checkup.
jittery British  
/ ˈdʒɪtərɪ /

adjective

  1. informal nervous and anxious

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • jitteriness noun

Etymology

Origin of jittery

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35; jitter + -y 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Nonetheless, software investors have been jittery this year around various new feature announcements from Anthropic and other AI entities.

From MarketWatch

Still, there’s plenty of reason to feel jittery at the moment.

From Barron's

Now, Wall Street is jittery about a recent breakthrough at Google.

From MarketWatch

Investors naturally ask for a bit of extra yield in jittery markets, he noted, especially when facing the uncertainty of geopolitical conflict.

From MarketWatch

As Alpha waits for the results of blood tests, she is startled by the sudden appearance of a gaunt, jittery stranger in their apartment.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.