jitterbug
Americannoun
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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)
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
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jitterbugssimple
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have jitterbuggedperfect
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has jitterbuggedperfect
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am jitterbuggingprogressive
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are jitterbuggingprogressive
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is jitterbuggingprogressive
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have been jitterbuggingperfect progressive
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has been jitterbuggingperfect progressive
Past
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jitterbuggedsimple
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had jitterbuggedperfect
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was jitterbuggingprogressive
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were jitterbuggingprogressive
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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.
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
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
He was a jitterbug point guard who played on the same AAU team as current Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo, and he thought he would play basketball.
From Washington Post • Apr. 20, 2021
Then we’d make fun of the blue-ribbon craft projects and dance a wild jitterbug to whatever lame-o band they’d brought in.
From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth
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.
