Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Moving quickly and lightly; lively.
- adjective Restlessly active or nervous; restive.
- adjective Undependably variable; mercurial or fickle.
- adjective Shy; bashful.
from The Century Dictionary.
- 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.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Easily frightened; timorous; shy; untrustworthy.
- adjective Wanton; restive; freakish; volatile; changeable; fickle.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Easily
scared orstartled ;timid . - adjective
wanton ;changeable ;fickle
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective unpredictably excitable (especially of horses)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Bloomberg News Sales are rising, but companies remain skittish over demand.
Consumer Spending Grates Paul Vigna 2010
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Still, shoppers remain skittish about the economic recovery, leaving the retail industry uncertain about the upcoming holiday season.
September retail sales inch up Ylan Q. Mui 2010
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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.
Black Beauty Anna Sewell 1849
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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.
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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.
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But if some investors are skittish, that isn't reflected in the Treasury bond data.
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011
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But if some investors are skittish, that isn't reflected in the Treasury bond data.
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011
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Not knowing if they're going to play is only going to make them more skittish, which is really the last thing we need.
Arseblog 2010
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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.
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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.
rolig commented on the word skittish
"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
March 21, 2008
whichbe commented on the word skittish
Taste The Strainbow
September 26, 2008
strev commented on the word skittish
Comedy troupe malady.
April 14, 2009