fitfully
English
Etymology
Pronunciation
Audio (US): (file)
Adverb
fitfully (comparative more fitfully, superlative most fitfully)
- In a fitful manner; irregularly or unsteadily.
- He slept fitfully, plagued by bad dreams and a persistent cough.
- 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 [...]
- 1886, Henry James, The Bostonians, chapter 36
- The train for Marmion left Boston at four o'clock in the afternoon, and rambled fitfully toward the southern cape, while the shadows grew long in the stony pastures [...]
- 1904, Jack London, The Sea Wolf, chapter 36
- We shivered miserably throughout the night. Now and again fitfully slept, but the pain of the cold always aroused me.
Synonyms
- in fits and starts; see also Thesaurus:discontinuously
Translations
in a fitful manner
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