agitated
Americanadjective
Usage
What does agitated mean? To feel agitated is to feel anxious, bothered, or worried. The verb agitate means to make someone feel this way. It can also mean to shake something up, stir it up, or cause it to move around roughly, as in The storm is agitating the water, stirring up huge waves. The adjective agitated can also be used to describe something that has been stirred up in this way. The noun agitation can refer to the feeling of being agitated, as in There is a lot of agitation among the employees who have not yet been paid. Example: The cable news channel blaring in the waiting room makes me really agitated—they really shouldn’t have that around people who are about to get their blood pressure taken.
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Someone who is agitated is visibly upset. If you have ever walked into a room and instantly been asked, "What's wrong?" you probably looked agitated. The verb agitate means "to shake up." So someone who is agitated has been shaken up by something — disturbing news, a careless driver who nearly caused a huge accident, or just a very long, very bad day. Agitated can also describe being activated, or fired up about something. For example, a political cause might be losing steam until an event like a rally gets everyone agitated all over again.
Vocabulary lists containing agitated
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 5
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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Emotions on Display
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If she threatens to withdraw her affection or becomes agitated or angry, that’s OK too.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
Investigators said two of his passengers that night said he “appeared agitated and angry.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
She’s just frustrated that the weather isn’t cooperating with her upcoming outdoor performance and agitated that this might be a bad omen for her big American comeback.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
"I heard a man scream 'Allahu akbar' five or six times, in a very agitated manner," a young man who witnessed the chaos that ensued told Blick, which did not provide his name.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
His voice is agitated, it sounds almost dignified as he says: “I tell you it is the vilest baseness to use horses in the war.”
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
