fidget

English

WOTD – 8 August 2010

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪdʒ.ɪt/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɪdʒɪt

Verb

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

1. (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."

2. (transitive) To cause to fidget; to make uneasy.
   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Case of Miss Elliott‎^[1]:

     “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) (zuòlìbù'ān)

• Dutch: friemelen (nl)
• Esperanto: svingiĝi
• Estonian: nihelema
• Finnish: sätkiä (fi), sätkytellä (fi), nykiä, nytkiä
• French: gigoter (fr), remuer (fr)
• German: zappeln (de), herumzappeln
• Irish: bheith corrthónach, bheith giongach, bheith míshocair
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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:

  Cyrillic: врпо̀љити се

  Roman: vrpòljiti se (sh)

• Spanish: revolverse (es)
• Tagalog: kuyakoy (tl)

Noun

fidget (plural fidgets)

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

   Synonym: 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: νευρόσπαστο (el) n (nevróspasto)
• Irish: giodam m, goraí m, útamálaí m
• Polish: wiercipięta (pl) m
• Russian: егоза́ (ru) f (jegozá)

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