Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Fitful

Fit′ful

,
Adj.
[From 7th
Fit
.]
Full of fits; irregularly variable; impulsive and unstable.
Fit′ful-ly
,
adv.
Fit′ful-ness
,
Noun.

Webster 1828 Edition


Fitful

FIT'FUL

,
Adj.
Varied by paroxysms; full of fits.

Definition 2024


fitful

fitful

English

Adjective

fitful (comparative more fitful, superlative most fitful)

  1. Irregular; unsteady; characterized by fits.
    His breathing was fitful.
    • 1605, Shakespeare, Macbeth, act III
      [...] Duncan is in his grave;
      After life's fitful fever he sleeps well;
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 123
      The cabin lamp—taking long swings this way and that— was burning fitfully, and casting fitful shadows upon the old man’s bolted door [...]
    • 2012, The Economist, The economy: Don’t say “green shoots”
      So fitful has Britain’s economy been that any good news is understandably snatched at.

Derived terms

Translations