Fitful vs Agitated - What's the difference?
fitful | agitated |
Irregular; unsteady; characterized by fits.
*1605 , Shakespeare, Macbeth ,
*1851 ,
*: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,
*:So fitful has Britain’s economy been that any good news is understandably snatched at.
(agitate)
To move with a violent, irregular action; as, the wind agitates the sea; to agitate water in a vessel.
(rare) To move or actuate.
:(Thomson)
To stir up; to disturb or excite; to perturb; as, he was greatly agitated.
To discuss with great earnestness; to debate; as, a controversy hotly agitated.
:(Boyle)
To revolve in the mind, or view in all its aspects; to contrive busily; to devise; to plot; as, politicians agitate desperate designs.
As an adjective fitful
is irregular; unsteady; characterized by fits.As a verb agitated is
past tense of agitate.fitful
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- His breathing was fitful .
- [...] Duncan is in his grave;
- After life's fitful fever he sleeps well;
The economy: Don’t say “green shoots”
Derived terms
* fitfully * fitfulnessagitated
English
Verb
(head)agitate
English
(Webster 1913)Verb
(agitat)- ``Winds . . . agitate the air.'' --Cowper.
- The mind of man is agitated by various passions. --Johnson.
