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.
When sales were meant to begin on Saturday, large crowds grew agitated when word spread there were limited quantities to sell.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
Your mood shifts, you feel agitated, but you can't see or hear anything unusual.
From Science Daily • May 3, 2026
An agitated Jean finds herself praying to none other than Monica Lewinsky, the patron saint of bad romantic choices, or as Langbein puts it, “of those who suffer venal public shaming and patriarchal cruelty.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
A security guard, watching the flow, offered a relaxed smile as the travelers grew more agitated: “They’re short-staffed. Please be patient.”
From Slate • Mar. 26, 2026
Ama chastises, snapping her hand back and forth like Ma sometimes does when she’s agitated.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
