Word.ws English Dictionary

astir

/əˈstɜː/US/əˈstɝ/

astir adjective: in motion; characterized by motion.

Adjective

astir (comparative more astir, superlative most astir)

  1. In motion; characterized by motion.
    • Her book has perhaps been a good one; it has refreshed, refilled, rewarmed her heart; it has set her brain astir, furnished her mind with pictures.1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Two Lives”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 265
    • For in quick spring the sap is all astir.1863, Christina Rossetti, “L. E. L.”, in Poems, Boston: Roberts Brothers, published 1866, page 205
  2. Out of bed; up and about.
    • I had but a broken sleep the night before, in anticipation of the pleasure of a whole day with Em’ly. We were all astir betimes in the morning;1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 10, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, pages 104-105
    • ‘It is early to be astir this Sabbath morn,’ he said cheerfully.1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter XII, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the second (Maiden...

astir meaning in Tamil and Malayalam

astir in Tamil

இயங்கும் நிலையில், படுக்கைவிட்டெழுந்து, உயிர்ப்புடன், துடிப்புடன்

astir in Malayalam

ഉത്സാഹത്തോടെ, ചലിക്കുന്ന

Examples of astir in a sentence

  • Wilson, who was acting as cook, was up and astir at his duties in the cook-house.1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 7, in The Land That Time Forgot, New York: Del Rey, published 1992, page 103:
  • Soon, the whole town would be astir with the cracking of whips, the beating of gongs, cryings to prayer, lashing of mules, and rattle of brass-bound wheels,1928, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in Orlando: A Biography, London: The Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished as Orlando: A Biography (eBook no....
  • Outside, the evening woods stood in quietude and the vast patches like maps of color were captured motionless, no leaf astir, in the light of the setting sun.1979, William Styron, chapter 11, in Sophie’s Choice, New York: Random House, page 332:
  • Ezinma was still sleeping when everyone else was astir,1958 June 17, Chinua Achebe, chapter 12, in Things Fall Apart, New York, N.Y.: Astor-Honor, published 1959, →OCLC, part 1, page 115:

Synonyms of astir

1 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of astir

Forms of astir

comparativemore astir
superlativemost astir

Origin of astir

From a- + stir.

Words that rhyme with astir

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about astir

What does astir mean?
Astir means in motion; characterized by motion.
What is astir in Tamil?
Astir in Tamil is இயங்கும் நிலையில், படுக்கைவிட்டெழுந்து, உயிர்ப்புடன். See Astir meaning in Tamil.
How do you use astir in a sentence?
Wilson, who was acting as cook, was up and astir at his duties in the cook-house.
What part of speech is astir?
Astir is an adjective.
How do you pronounce astir?
Astir is pronounced /əˈstɜː/ (UK).

Words near astir in the dictionary

  1. astipulated
  2. astipulates
  3. astipulating
  4. astipulation
  5. astipulations
  6. astir
  7. Astis
  8. Astle
  9. Astley
  10. Astley and Dunley
  11. Astleys

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: astir (page history and authors); astir (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); astir (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-astir.wav.

Cite this entry: “astir.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/astir. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.