restlessness

[ rest-lis-nis ]

noun

1. the inability to remain still or at rest, or a mood characterized by this:

   To overcome younger students’ restlessness and anxiety, one expert suggests class routines, role play activities, and other calming exercises.

2. the fact of being unable to sleep or find a comfortable position in which to sleep:

   I haven't been sleeping so well lately—a mix of restlessness and staying up too late watching movies.

3. discontent or dissatisfaction that drives one to keep looking for solutions, alternatives, or new things:

   We are incomplete beings yearning to be made whole, dogged by a sense of unease and restlessness.

4. perpetual movement:

   Growing up on the coast of Sydney as he did, his music is influenced by the restlessness of the ocean.

Word History and Origins

Origin of restlessness¹

restless ( def ) + -ness ( def )

Example Sentences

It never once succumbed to late 30s comfort or malaise, and instead delivered a chaotic charge of restlessness and structural invention.

From Los Angeles Times

In 1798, Scottish doctor Sir Alexander Crichton wrote about a “disease of attention” with “an unnatural degree of mental restlessness.”

From BBC

To fight restlessness, he started working at Hard Times, a friend’s pop-up record store, in November.

From Seattle Times

But some Michigan Democrats in recent weeks have cautioned the party about overlooking restlessness within a significantly larger and politically influential demographic: Black voters.

From Seattle Times

A performer who makes good movies better and dreary movies tolerable, she has a restlessness that has made her one of the more interesting attractions in American film.

From New York Times

Related Words

• agitation
• anxiety
• disquiet
• ferment
• insomnia
• instability
• jitters
• nervousness
• uneasiness