Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Moving quickly and lightly; lively.
- adj. Restlessly active or nervous; restive.
- adj. Undependably variable; mercurial or fickle.
- adj. Shy; bashful.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Easily frightened; disposed to start, jump, or run, as if from fright.
- Hence Shy; avoiding familiarity or intercourse; timid; retiring; coy.
- Changeable; volatile; fickle: inconstant; capricious.
- Deceitful; tricky; deceptive.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Easily frightened; timorous; shy; untrustworthy.
- adj. Wanton; restive; freakish; volatile; changeable; fickle.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. unpredictably excitable (especially of horses)
Etymologies
- Middle English, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skjōta, to shoot; see shoot. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Still, shoppers remain skittish about the economic recovery, leaving the retail industry uncertain about the upcoming holiday season.”
“Bloomberg News Sales are rising, but companies remain skittish over demand.”
“Spirited horses, when not enough exercised, are often called skittish, when it is only play; and some grooms will punish them, but our John did not; he knew it was only high spirits.”
“The mare was not "skittish" -- by no means -- according to Tom's idea, but it would have been more than an ordinary mare to have stood the sudden descent of half-a-ton of snow without _some_ symptoms of consciousness.”
“The mare was not "skittish" -- by no means -- according to Tom's idea, but it would have been more than an ordinary mare to have stood the sudden descent of half a ton of snow without _some_ symptoms of consciousness.”
“But if some investors are skittish, that isn't reflected in the Treasury bond data.”
“Not knowing if they're going to play is only going to make them more skittish, which is really the last thing we need.”
“Ellie Mae, described as a skittish, one-and-a-half year old, medium-sized, beagle-shepherd mix, ran away from a volunteer dog walker on Independence Pass on March 3, according to Anne Gurchick, assistant director of the Aspen / Pitkin Animal Shelter.”
“A few days before the firings in late 2006, then Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty e-mailed he was a little "skittish" about Bogden's firing but did not intervene to take his name off the list.”
“He has delivered a few paid speeches, done some mediation work and plans to do some arbitration, but said law firms have been "skittish" about hiring him.”
The Wall Street Journal: Gonzales Defends Role in Antiterror Policies
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘skittish’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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Naresh_Gre2
convoke, cosset, coterie, declaim, distaff, doff, dovetail, droll, dyspeptic, egress, ersatz, euphemism and 108 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2053 more...
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Mike Doughty/Soul Coughing
Words and phrases from his lyrics.
incumbent, jawgrind, boop shuh-nai, mopstyle, boombox moocher, Buddha-plump van, slingbacked, half-moon, maquereau, aphasia, barter yardie, boom-bap and 30 more...
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Random Words! Add Your Own! :D
Randomness time! Add your own words. ❤
Love, bucket, brigade, actuary, canal, canasta, why is the door open, coconut, stochastic, haphazard, accidental, chance and 38 more...
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man gre
abase, abeyance, abreast, abscission, abscond, abyss, accede, accretion, acerbic, acidulous, acumen, adulterate and 483 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1901 more...
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Restless
How can you stop when your feet say go?
hyperideation, unquiet, unpeaceful, cabin fever, space-hunger, restlessness, inquietude, wanrufe, restiveness, restive, champ at the bit, fidgetiness and 28 more...
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MyList
peter out, fraying, jump on the bandw..., indignation, eclectic, hung up, salutary, hoary, warped, glaring, blue-collar, concomitant and 105 more...
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ChortleGiggleSnort
Significant Words- Guiding you on your path to Snazzibility
flimsy, feeble, ranting, ramble, narky, snazzy, yoghurt, bulbous, pustule, globulous, geranium, megalomaniac and 521 more...
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Words
My list of words.
veritable, facetious, nadir, quixotic, apropos, acquiesce, ostensible, insipid, egregious, inveterate, coax, adroit and 409 more...
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(more or less) Temporary Urth List
Temporary list is temporary.
Collecting a few words here, which are then to be alloted to other lists.vassal, gnaw, putrescence, liege, pederasty, disseminate, loot, waning, fitful, hiatuse, plow, pious and 292 more...
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Week 1, Day 1
ignominy, marquee, deter, chariot, stern, perfidy, treacherous, insolent, presumptuous, banish, dubious, livid and 133 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for skittish.
strev Comedy troupe malady. Apr 14, 2009
whichbe Taste The Strainbow Sep 25, 2008
rolig "But there is something charming about Easter's skittish date, and the way the holiday arrives as a surprise - even if it is not quite what th Council of Nicaea intended."
– The Guardian, 21 March 2008 Mar 21, 2008