fitful


irregular

TRANSLATION

fitful = ruckartig, stoßweise, unruhig [Schlaf], unbeständig, launenhaft —— fitful breathing = unregelmäßige Atmung —— fitful weather = launisches (unbeständiges) Wetter

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

“So drinking alcohol late at night can mean that your brain will be trying to catch up on missed REM sleep at the end of the night – producing particularly FITFUL sleep.”

Michael Mosley - BBC Two

Did you
know?

fitful
adjective

- often stopping and starting and not happening in a regular or continuous way

Cambridge Dictionary


ORIGIN

You’ll find the earliest use of this word in Shakespeare’s  Macbeth (1605): “Life’s fitful fever,”  where it is used in the sense of “characterized by fits” (fit = Anfall), then revived in romantic poetry in the late 18c. with the sense of “shifting, changing” as in today’s OWAD.


SYNONYMS

blowing hot and cold, by fits and starts, FITFUL, episodic, ever-changing, fluctuant, fluctuating, herky jerky, intermittent, irregular, on-again-off-again, sporadic, vicissitudinous


FITTING PHRASES

- fit for a king = "This hotel room is so luxurious - it's fit for a king."

- fit like a glove = “This shirt fits perfectly and feels very comfortable - it fits like a glove.”

- fits someone to a “T” = “Those green trousers suit you so well, the size and look is perfect - they fit you to a T.”

- fits the bill = “This appartment is just what you were looking for - it exactly fits the bill.”

- as fit as a butcher’s dog = “Hey Bob, with all that hiking you’re in such good health and shape - you’re as fit as a butcher’s dog.”

- having a hissy-fit = “They are disappointed over trivialities, moaning, groaning over small or imaginary problems - they’re having a hissy-fit.”


SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“I slept FITFULLY last night, it must be all this late-night eating.”


THANKS to Thomas for suggesting today’s OWAD!


HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Paul Smith

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