fidget

From fidge (“to fidget”) +‎ *-et (frequentative ending), possibly from Middle English *-ten, from Old English -ettan.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪd͡ʒ.ɪt/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɪdʒɪt

fidget (third-person singular simple present fidgets, present participle fidgeting or fidgetting, simple past and past participle fidgeted or fidgetted)

1. (intransitive) To wiggle or twitch; to move the body, especially the fingers, around nervously or idly.
   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     "Look, Jim, how my fingers fidget," he continued, in the pleading tone. "I can't keep e'm still, not I."

   • 1993, Mike Leigh, Naked, spoken by Johnny (David Thewlis):

     Will you stop fucking about and fidgeting in my peripherals? I'm trying to concentrate.

2. (transitive) To cause to fidget; to make uneasy.
   • 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], chapter 1, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

     “Do I fidget you ?” he asked apologetically, whilst his long bony fingers buried themselves, string, knots, and all, into the capacious pockets of his magnificent tweed ulster.

• fidget-bottom
• fidgeter

fidget (plural fidgets)

1. A nervous wriggling or twitching motion.
2. (informal) A person who fidgets, especially habitually.

   Synonym: fidgeter

3. An object intended to be fidgeted with (such as a tool or toy).

• gifted