fidget

English

WOTD – 8 August 2010

Etymology

From fidge (“to fidget”) +‎ *-et (frequentative ending), possibly from Middle English *-ten, from Old English -ettan.

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈfɪd͡ʒ.ɪt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (Australia):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪdʒɪt

Verb

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

  1. (intransitive) To wiggle or twitch; to move the body, especially the fingers, around nervously or idly.
    • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
      "Look, Jim, how my fingers fidget," he continued, in the pleading tone. "I can't keep e'm still, not I."
    • 1993, Mike Leigh, Naked, spoken by Johnny (David Thewlis):
      Will you stop fucking about and fidgeting in my peripherals? I'm trying to concentrate.
  2. (transitive) To cause to fidget; to make uneasy.
    • 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], chapter 1, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
      “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.
    • 1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 16:
      Being of a very cleanly habit, he was constantly rubbing himself in order to preserve the whiteness of his skin unsullied. The scurf which was thus removed from his person he laid on one side, till it gathered in such a heap as to fidget him. To be rid of it he constructed the earth out of it.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

fidget (countable and uncountable, plural fidgets)

  1. (countable) A nervous wriggling or twitching motion.
  2. (informal, countable) A person who fidgets, especially habitually.
    Synonym: fidgeter
  3. (countable) An object, such as a tool or toy, intended to be fidgeted with.
  4. (uncountable) Short for fidget house.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

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