agita

American  

[aj-i-tuh] / ˈædʒ ɪ tə /

noun

1. heartburn; indigestion.

2. agitation; anxiety.

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Etymology

Origin of agita

1980–85, < Italian, < agitare < Latin agitāre agitate

Explanation

Agita is a feeling of anxiety, or agitation, like the agita your grandmother gets when she hears you and your brother arguing loudly over what show to watch on TV. While agita is often used as a synonym for agitation, it actually derives from acido, an Italian word meaning "heartburn." You can use it either way, or both: "I'm feeling so much agita because I can't sleep after getting that terrible agita earlier from eating a whole bag of Doritos." In the mid-20th century, it was mostly New Yorkers of Italian descent who used the word agita, though it became more widespread by the 1990s.

Example Sentences

Pershing Square has no direct exposure to private credit, which has caused investor agita partly because such loans can be hard to value.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

Still, the causes for the agita are pretty clear.

From Barron's • Nov. 21, 2025

Much of the agita surrounding Feinstein stemmed from her stance on policy, particularly from those on the left who long considered the former San Francisco mayor too moderate for their taste.

From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2024

That makes "Hegemony" more than another send-up of James Cameron's "Aliens" – although it recreates that classic's claustrophobic agita very well.

From Salon • Aug. 11, 2023

Ensayo sobre el verdadero estado de la cuestion social y politica que se agita en la Republica Mejicana, por Otero, 1842.

From Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican Vol. 1 of 2 A Historical, Geographical, Political, Statistical and Social Account of That Country From the Period of the Invasion by the Spaniards to the Present Time; With a View of the Ancient Aztec Empire and Civilization; A Historical Sketch of the Late War; And Notices of New Mexico and California by Mayer, Brantz