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
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 studio tailored lessons for students ages 30 to 90 and offered classes on dances not taught in American-style studios, such as the Taiwanese jitterbug.
From Washington Post • Jan. 24, 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
You can cross over, or do some corny dips, or even jitterbug a little, and she stays right with you.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
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.
