restless
Americanadjective
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characterized by or showing inability to remain at rest.
a restless mood.
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unquiet or uneasy, as a person, the mind, or the heart.
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never at rest; perpetually agitated or in motion.
the restless sea.
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without rest; without restful sleep.
a restless night.
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unceasingly active; averse to quiet or inaction, as persons.
a restless crowd.
adjective
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unable to stay still or quiet
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ceaselessly active or moving
the restless wind
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worried; anxious; uneasy
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not restful; without repose
a restless night
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of restless
First recorded before before 1000; Middle English restles, Old English restlēas; see rest 1, -less
Explanation
When you're restless, you find it hard to sit still or concentrate on anything. An audience often grows restless when they're waiting for the second act of a play to start and there's an unexpected delay. If you think of restless as "unable to rest or relax," you'll know exactly what it means. You might have a restless night if you can't fall asleep and spend hours tossing and turning. A bunch of elementary school kids listening to a boring speech will grow restless in a way that's hard to miss, since they're bound to be squirming in their seats.
Vocabulary lists containing restless
"The Civil Rights Movement"
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Vocabulary from "Community is the 'killer app' missing from virtual reality" by Dmitri Williams
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Don't Panic! Synonyms for "Stress"
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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.
From time to time, there are rumblings in Lib Dem ranks, wondering aloud why the party doesn't seem to be the beneficiary of a restless electorate on the hunt for alternatives.
From BBC • May 2, 2026
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
"Imagine, without sleep, my child was restless all night," Quinones said.
From Barron's • Mar. 22, 2026
To start their companies, founders have to be creative, restless, slightly delusional and outrageously ambitious.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026
For a long time I lay silent in the huge shadowy barracks restless with the sighs, snores, and stirrings of hundreds of women.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
