fidget
Americanverb (used without object)
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to move about restlessly, nervously, or impatiently.
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to play with something in a restless or nervous way; fiddle.
The boy kept fidgeting with the toy instead of paying attention.
verb (used with object)
noun
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Often fidgets. the condition or an instance of being nervously restless, uneasy, or impatient.
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Also fidgeter. a person who fidgets.
verb
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(intr) to move about restlessly
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to make restless or uneasy movements (with something); fiddle
he fidgeted with his pen
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(tr) to cause to fidget
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(tr) to cause to worry; make uneasy
noun
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(often plural) a state of restlessness or unease, esp as expressed in continual motion
he's got the fidgets
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a person who fidgets
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fidgetsimple
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fidgetssimple
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have fidgetedperfect
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has fidgetedperfect
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am fidgetingprogressive
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are fidgetingprogressive
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is fidgetingprogressive
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have been fidgetingperfect progressive
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has been fidgetingperfect progressive
Past
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fidgetedsimple
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had fidgetedperfect
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was fidgetingprogressive
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were fidgetingprogressive
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had been fidgetingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fidget
First recorded in 1665–75; compare dialectal fidge “to fidget,” akin to the synonymous expressive words fitch, fig, fike; compare Old Norse fīkjast “to be eager,” Old Swedish fīkja “to be restless”
Explanation
To fidget is to make little movements with your hands and feet. Even if you're nervous during your job interview, try not to fidget. The word fidget is related to the Old Norse fikja, meaning "move briskly, be restless or eager." If you are feeling impatient or anxious you might fidget in your seat or fidget with a pen in your hands. A person who fidgets a lot can be referred to as a fidget and so can that quick anxious movement itself.
Vocabulary lists containing fidget
Bud, Not Buddy
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American Born Chinese
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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.
See Examples For:
The space includes fidget toys, cars, animals, books and projections on the wall.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Kids call them fidget toys or stress balls.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
When slime, fidget spinners and other tactile toys started catching on, the company looked to create a product that could compete.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
That approach, she said, helped Five Below take advantage of the current craze for “squishy dumplings” — the latest popular fidget toy that the retailer has managed to cash in on.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
They would sit on the ground among the old headstones and wait until the sage had burned away, and Ash still remembered the way she would fidget after only a few moments of stillness.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
He fidgets with a pair of eyeglasses and points a knobby index finger to underscore a point, jiggles his leg restlessly and, at one point, mimes playing guitar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
The story is simple: The dad flusters, fidgets and whines; the girl gobbles room service as though aspiring to become human foie gras.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
As her mother explains how she struggled to keep her alive amid a collapsing health system in Gaza, Niveen, with her big brown eyes and tiny frame, cries and fidgets.
From BBC ● May 20, 2025
Sebastian Roelandse fidgets with headphones and bashfully whispers, “‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid.’”
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2022
She fidgets with the ribbon in her hair as she talks.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
When asked what his manner was like, she replied: "Matter of fact. He appeared a bit nervous. He kind of fidgeted."
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2024
Students fidgeted in chairs, not knowing what to say.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
The teacher turned up the volume of a months-of-the-year song and children were told to settle down on the carpet, but some roamed the classroom; others fidgeted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2023
And at the matinee I saw, it failed to connect with its audience — or at least the several dozen middle school students in attendance, who napped, whispered, fidgeted and surreptitiously checked phones.
From New York Times ● May 11, 2023
Nali’s hands fidgeted while the pawnbroker examined the turquoise watch bracelet.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
In the studio and in meetings, Shulman has the restless energy of a kid—pacing around a room or fidgeting with a piano keyboard or bass guitar—combined with the intellectual affect of a quant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
Newby, who was being treated for a chest infection at the time, said he approached Farooq outside the maternity ward after spotting him fidgeting and looking anxious.
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026
They can take four minutes on the answer, and people are now fidgeting in the crowd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2025
One recent Canadian study suggested perhaps one in three of us might be aversely affected by other people fidgeting, experiencing intense feelings of rage, torture and disgust.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2024
The judge had been fidgeting and had seemed distracted when I started, so I paused.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
