restless
Americanadjective
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characterized by or showing inability to remain at rest.
a restless mood.
-
unquiet or uneasy, as a person, the mind, or the heart.
-
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
-
unable to stay still or quiet
-
ceaselessly active or moving
the restless wind
-
worried; anxious; uneasy
-
not restful; without repose
a restless night
Other Word Forms
- restlessly adverb
- restlessness noun
Etymology
Origin of restless
First recorded before before 1000; Middle English restles, Old English restlēas; rest 1, -less
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.
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.
"My children are restless. Not being able to hear their voices is driving me insane. This is truly the height of cruelty and oppression for a mother."
From BBC
"Imagine, without sleep, my child was restless all night," Quinones said.
From Barron's
Sir Keir Starmer's party is still restless, and underneath the overwhelming scale of the crisis in the Middle East, politics continues to fray.
From BBC
To start their companies, founders have to be creative, restless, slightly delusional and outrageously ambitious.
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.
