As an adjective antsy
is restless, apprehensive and fidgety.
As a verb tantalize is
to tease (someone) by offering something desirable but keeping it out of reach.
antsy
English
Adjective
(
er)
restless, apprehensive and fidgety
- The children were antsy and worried [...]. – “Rabbit at Rest”, by John Updike
Related terms
* ants in one's pants
* have ants in one's pants
See also
* toey
Anagrams
*
*
*
tantalize
English
Verb
(tantaliz)
to tease (someone) by offering something desirable but keeping it out of reach
to bait (someone) by showing something desirable but leaving them unsatisfied
Quotations
* 1880 —
*: They could not bear to be tantalized nor tortured by the splendid delusion.
* 1884 — , section 22
*: All pleasures palled upon me; all sights tantalized and tempted me to outspoken treason, because I could not but compare what I saw in Two Dimensions with what it really was if seen in Three, and could hardly refrain from making my comparisons aloud.
* 1895 — , Ch. XV
*: He had been possessed of much fear of his friend, for he saw how easily questionings could make holes in his feelings. Lately, he had assured himself that the altered comrade would not tantalize him with a persistent curiosity, but he felt certain that during the first period of leisure his friend would ask him to relate his adventures of the previous day.
*
*: “It was—simply amazing,” she repeated abstractedly. “But I swore I wouldn’t tell it and here I am tantalizing you.”
* 1936 — , Ch. IX
*: As we threaded our dim way through the labyrinth with the aid of map and compass ... we were repeatedly tantalized by the sculptured walls along our route. ... If we had had more films, we would certainly have paused briefly to photograph certain bas-reliefs, but time-consuming hand-copying was clearly out of the question.
Related terms
* tantalizing