fitful

English

Etymology

From fit +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Adjective

fitful (comparative more fitful, superlative most fitful)

1. Irregular; unsteady; characterized by fits.

   His breathing was fitful.

   • 1605, Shakespeare, Macbeth, act III

     […] Duncan is in his grave;

     After life's fitful fever he sleeps well;

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 123

     The cabin lamp—taking long swings this way and that— was burning fitfully, and casting fitful shadows upon the old man’s bolted door [...]

   • 2012, The Economist, The economy: Don’t say “green shoots”

     So fitful has Britain’s economy been that any good news is understandably snatched at.

Synonyms

• intermittent, spasmodic; see also Thesaurus:discontinuous

Derived terms

• fitfully
• fitfulness

Translations

irregular; unsteady; characterized by fits

• Bulgarian: прекъснат (bg) (prekǎsnat), на пресекулки (na presekulki)
• French: irrégulier (fr), sporadique (fr)
• German: unregelmäßig (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: pūrekereke (referring to a breeze)
• Russian: судорожный (ru) (sudorožnyj), порывистый (ru) (poryvistyj), перемежающийся (ru) (peremežajuščijsja), прерывистый (ru) (preryvistyj)
• Spanish: irregular (es) m or f, inestable (es) m or f