fidget
UK/ˈfɪd͡ʒ.ɪt/
fidget verb: to wiggle or twitch; to move the body, especially the fingers, around nervously or idly. Also the abbreviation of fidget house.
Verb
fidget (third-person singular simple present fidgets, present participle fidgeting or (rare) fidgetting, simple past and past participle fidgeted or (rare) fidgetted)
- To wiggle or twitch; to move the body, especially the fingers, around nervously or idly.
- "Look, Jim, how my fingers fidget," he continued, in the pleading tone. "I can't keep e'm still, not I."1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC
- Will you stop fucking about and fidgeting in my peripherals? I'm trying to concentrate.1993, Mike Leigh, Naked, spoken by Johnny (David Thewlis)
- To cause to fidget; to make uneasy.
- “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.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....
- Being of a very cleanly habit, he was constantly rubbing himself in order to preserve the whiteness of his skin unsullied. The scurf which was thus removed from his person he laid on one side, till it gathered in such a heap as to fidget him. To be rid of it he constructed the earth out of it.1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 16
Noun
fidget (countable and uncountable, plural fidgets)
- A nervous wriggling or twitching motion.
- A person who fidgets, especially habitually.
- Synonyms:
- fidgeter
- An object, such as a tool or toy, intended to be fidgeted with.
Also used as
fidget is also the abbreviation of fidget house.
fidget meaning in Tagalog and Arabic
fidget in Tagalog
- to move around nervously
- kuyakoy
fidget in Arabic
- to move around nervously
- تَمَلْمَلَ tamalmala
Examples of fidget in a sentence
- The class squirmed and fidgeted in the uncomfortable new chairs.
- She sat and fidgeted out of restlessness as she waited.
- There are many tools to safely stim like chewelry, noise-canceling headphones, fidget spinners, putty, and gum.
Synonyms of fidget
Forms of fidget
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | fidgets |
| present participle | fidgeting |
| past participle | fidgeted |
| past | fidgeted |
| present participle (rare) | fidgetting |
| past participle (rare) | fidgetted |
| past (rare) | fidgetted |
| Noun | |
| plural | fidgets |
Origin of fidget
From fidge (“to fidget”) + *-et (frequentative ending), possibly from Middle English *-ten, from Old English -ettan.
Words formed from fidget
Phrases with fidget
Words that rhyme with fidget
Questions about fidget
- What does fidget mean?
- Fidget means to wiggle or twitch; to move the body, especially the fingers, around nervously or idly.
- What is fidget in Tagalog?
- Fidget in Tagalog is kuyakoy. See Fidget meaning in Tagalog.
- What part of speech is fidget?
- Fidget can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce fidget?
- Fidget is pronounced /ˈfɪd͡ʒ.ɪt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of fidget?
- The past tense of fidget is fidgeted.
Words near fidget in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fidget (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-fidget.ogg, en-au-fidget.ogg.
Cite this entry: “fidget.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fidget. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.