jitterbug
Americannoun
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jitterbugs
plural
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a strenuously acrobatic dance consisting of a few standardized steps augmented by twirls, splits, somersaults, etc., popular especially in the early 1940s and performed chiefly to boogie-woogie and swing.
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a person who dances the jitterbug.
verb (used without object)
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jitterbugs,
present (3rd person singular)
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jitterbugged,
past participle, past
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jitterbugging
present participle
noun
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a fast jerky American dance, usually to a jazz accompaniment, that was popular in the 1940s
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a person who dances the jitterbug
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a highly nervous or excitable person
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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jitterbugsimple
-
jitterbugssimple
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have jitterbuggedperfect
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has jitterbuggedperfect
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am jitterbuggingprogressive
-
are jitterbuggingprogressive
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is jitterbuggingprogressive
-
have been jitterbuggingperfect progressive
-
has been jitterbuggingperfect progressive
Past
-
jitterbuggedsimple
-
had jitterbuggedperfect
-
was jitterbuggingprogressive
-
were jitterbuggingprogressive
-
had been jitterbuggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jitterbug
Vocabulary lists containing jitterbug
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:
It references to Audrey Hepburn and British supermodel Twiggy, and the frenetic editing and jitterbug choreography make it a unique entry in her videography.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2024
Those traits allowed Clark to defend every player on the court, from jitterbug point guards to beanpole centers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2023
The Germans banned jazz, but wherever they went, U.S. soldiers, known as GIs, introduced locals to jazz and the jitterbug, popular back in the States.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
Dorothy WhiteHorse, 89, a Kiowa who attended Riverside in the 1940s, said she recalled learning to dance the jitterbug in the school’s gymnasium and learning to speak English for the first time.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 8, 2022
“And we don’t want to have this game breaking down into a two man jitterbug contest. We saw what happened against Trinity. We can win because we have the best team effort in the league.”
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
Another fascinating juxtaposition happened with the dancing, since de Mille’s choreography was supplemented with jitterbugs devised by the king of Harlem ballrooms, Herbert White, who brought along his troupe.
From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2021
The work emphasizes kinetic folk traditions, whether that means sacred Native American rituals, jazz-club jitterbugs or farmworker jigs.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 25, 2016
"Starting off, I had a few jitterbugs, but once I touched the field and saw how the atmosphere was, I got pretty comfortable," Wilson said.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 5, 2010
They were jitterbugs, and they were there to dig Harry Haag James, one time circus contortionist, virtuoso trumpeter, and leader of the nation's swing band sensation.
From Time Magazine Archive
“These mollicoddled jitterbugs show what they’re made of. Just a bunch of cry babies.”
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
Valdez conceived El Pachuco as the embodiment of the outrageously stylish young batos he used to spot around town, who spoke a Cantinflas-meets-Raymond-Chandler patois called caló and jitterbugged at clubs from Boyle Heights to Bakersfield.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
Reynolds jitterbugged with their mother to “Mom” by Meghan Trainor “because she taught me how to jitterbug,” they said.
From New York Times ● Nov. 19, 2021
At one, in Mold, in Flintshire, they jived and jitterbugged all day long at a 1950s-themed do.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2012
I hadn’t taken a test on anything since college, so anxieties I hadn’t felt in a long time jitterbugged their way through my stomach.
From Slate ● Jan. 12, 2012
The bottles started bubbling, gently at first, but then they began to shake faster and faster until the whole table jitterbugged.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
His cameos as Blazes Boylan, jitterbugging across the stage with the self-satisfied air of a country rake, were not just enlivening but renewing, capturing the character in a new idiom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2025
Today, the “damas” or “big mothers” as the dancers are known, can be found dancing in the early mornings and evenings, blasting stereos, waving fans and scarves, while jitterbugging, waltzing and jiving.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 17, 2021
Today, the “damas” or “big mothers” as the dancers are known, can be found dancing in the early mornings and evenings, blasting their stereos, waving fans and scarves, while jitterbugging, waltzing and jiving.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 17, 2021
Patrons could summon up Ellington for a coin and start jitterbugging.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2020
The two of them didn't even stop jitterbugging during the intervals.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
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.
