skittish

  • 1Skittish — Skit tish, a. [See {Skit}, v. t.] 1. Easily frightened; timorous; shy; untrustworthy; as, a skittish colt. A restiff, skittish jade. L Estrange. [1913 Webster] 2. Wanton; restive; freakish; volatile; changeable; fickle. Skittish Fortune s hall.… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2skittish — [skit′ish] adj. [ME: see SKIT & ISH] 1. lively or playful, esp. in a coy manner 2. easily frightened; jumpy [a skittish horse] 3. fickle or undependable skittishly adv. skittishness n …

    English World dictionary

  • 3skittish — index restive Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 4skittish — (adj.) early 15c., very lively, frivolous, perhaps from Scandinavian base *skyt (stem of O.N. skjuta to shoot ), from PIE root *skeud to shoot, to chase, to throw, to project (see SHOOT (Cf. shoot) (v.)). Sense of apt to run first recorded c.1500 …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 5skittish — [adj] very nervous agitable, alarmable, capricious, changeable, combustible, dizzy*, edgy, excitable, excited, fearful, fickle, fidgety, flighty, frivolous, giddy, harebrained, highstrung*, irresponsible, jumpy, lightheaded, lively, peppy,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 6skittish — ► ADJECTIVE 1) (of a horse) nervous; inclined to shy. 2) lively and unpredictable; playful. DERIVATIVES skittishly adverb skittishness noun. ORIGIN perhaps related to SKIT(Cf. ↑skit) …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7Skittish — Infobox Album | Name = Skittish Type = Album Artist = Mike Doughty Released = 2000 Recorded = July 5 1996 Genre = Rock Length = 32:17 Label = (self released) Producer = Kramer Reviews = Last album = This album = Skittish (2000) Next album =… …

    Wikipedia

  • 8skittish — skit|tish [ˈskıtıʃ] adj [Date: 1300 1400; Origin: Perhaps from Old Norse skjota to shoot ] 1.) an animal, especially a horse, that is skittish gets excited or frightened very easily 2.) a person who is skittish is not very serious, and their… …

    Dictionary of contemporary English

  • 9skittish — skit|tish [ skıtıʃ ] adjective nervous or worried and likely to change your opinion about something: Internet users had been skittish about shopping online. Skittish investors have already removed their money. a. used about horses that are… …

    Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • 10skittish — [[t]skɪ̱tɪʃ[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED If you describe a person or animal as skittish, you mean they are easily made frightened or excited. The declining dollar gave heart to skittish investors. Syn: nervous 2) ADJ GRADED Someone who is skittish does not …

    English dictionary