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 (General Australian):

  (file)

• 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 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 as 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.

Derived terms

• fidget-bottom
• fidgeter

Translations

to move around nervously

• Afrikaans: vroetel (af)
• Bulgarian: шавам (bg) (šavam), въртя се (vǎrtja se)
• Catalan: bellugar-se (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 坐立不安 (zh) (zuòlìbù'ān)

• Dutch: friemelen (nl), de kriebels hebben
• Esperanto: svingiĝi
• Estonian: nihelema
• Finnish: sätkiä (fi), sätkytellä (fi), nykiä (fi), nytkiä
• French: gigoter (fr), remuer (fr)
• German: zappeln (de), herumzappeln
• Hungarian: fészkelődik (hu), izeg-mozog (hu), babrál (hu), mocorog (hu)
• Irish: bheith corrthónach, bheith giongach, bheith míshocair
• Japanese: せかせかする
• Korean: 안절부절못하다 (ko) (anjeolbujeolmothada)
• Maori: oreore, mānānana, irirangi
• Norwegian: sprelle
• Portuguese: estar inquieto
• Romanian: a se foi
• 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

3. An object intended to be fidgeted with (such as a tool or toy).

Derived terms

• fidget pie
• fidget spinner
• fidget-spinning
• fidget toy
• fidgety

 

Translations

a person who fidgets

• Afrikaans: vroetelaar
• Catalan: belluguet m, ballaruga f
• Dutch: zenuwlijder (nl) m
• Estonian:
• Finnish: sätkyttelijä
• French: gigoteur (fr) m
• German: Zappelphilipp (de) m
• Greek: νευρόσπαστο (el) n (nevróspasto)
• Irish: giodam m, goraí m, útamálaí m
• Polish: wiercipięta (pl) m
• Russian: егоза́ (ru) f (jegozá)

Anagrams

• gifted