Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Restless or impatient; fidgety.
  • adjective Nervous; apprehensive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective restless, apprehensive and fidgety

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective nervous and unable to relax

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps from the incessant motions of ants.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From ants +‎ -y, as in ants in one's pants. The term antsy was first noted as a rural Southern USA figure of speech in the early 20th century.

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