fidget
Americanverb (used without object)
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to move about restlessly, nervously, or impatiently.
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to play with something in a restless or nervous way; fiddle.
The boy kept fidgeting with the toy instead of paying attention.
verb (used with object)
noun
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Often fidgets. the condition or an instance of being nervously restless, uneasy, or impatient.
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Also fidgeter. a person who fidgets.
verb
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(intr) to move about restlessly
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to make restless or uneasy movements (with something); fiddle
he fidgeted with his pen
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(tr) to cause to fidget
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(tr) to cause to worry; make uneasy
noun
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(often plural) a state of restlessness or unease, esp as expressed in continual motion
he's got the fidgets
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a person who fidgets
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fidgetsimple
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fidgetssimple
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have fidgetedperfect
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has fidgetedperfect
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am fidgetingprogressive
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are fidgetingprogressive
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is fidgetingprogressive
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have been fidgetingperfect progressive
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has been fidgetingperfect progressive
Past
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fidgetedsimple
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had fidgetedperfect
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was fidgetingprogressive
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were fidgetingprogressive
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had been fidgetingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fidget
First recorded in 1665–75; compare dialectal fidge “to fidget,” akin to the synonymous expressive words fitch, fig, fike; compare Old Norse fīkjast “to be eager,” Old Swedish fīkja “to be restless”
Explanation
To fidget is to make little movements with your hands and feet. Even if you're nervous during your job interview, try not to fidget. The word fidget is related to the Old Norse fikja, meaning "move briskly, be restless or eager." If you are feeling impatient or anxious you might fidget in your seat or fidget with a pen in your hands. A person who fidgets a lot can be referred to as a fidget and so can that quick anxious movement itself.
Vocabulary lists containing fidget
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Kids call them fidget toys or stress balls.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
That approach, she said, helped Five Below take advantage of the current craze for “squishy dumplings” — the latest popular fidget toy that the retailer has managed to cash in on.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
Hernandez came up with a rule: If a child isn’t into the movie, he or she can draw, play with slime or use a fidget toy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
But she had previously said that comparisons of her own work with Austen's "make me fidget".
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
Mrs. Tracey still didn’t move from the window, and everyone began to fidget, looking at everyone else, and my eyes landed on the whiteboard.
From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds
He fidgets with a pair of eyeglasses and points a knobby index finger to underscore a point, jiggles his leg restlessly and, at one point, mimes playing guitar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
As her mother explains how she struggled to keep her alive amid a collapsing health system in Gaza, Niveen, with her big brown eyes and tiny frame, cries and fidgets.
From BBC ● May 20, 2025
In interviews, he fidgets, stumbles over words and gets frustrated if he thinks he has said the wrong thing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2023
Sebastian Roelandse fidgets with headphones and bashfully whispers, “‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid.’”
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2022
Or at least I cook and Miss Celia fidgets, looking more like a five-year-old than the rich lady paying my rent.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
No-one fidgeted or glanced at their smartphones, as Eva explained she had the number A-26959 tattooed in blue ink on her arm.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2025
Barrois fidgeted with clay, aluminum foil, phone wires, even old chewing gum pulled from the bottom of church pews, twisting each material into tiny drivers for his cars.
From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2024
O'Brien retorted, "You stand your butt up, big guy," as Mullin rose from his seat and fidgeted with his wedding band.
From Salon ● Nov. 14, 2023
Students fidgeted in chairs, not knowing what to say.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
He twitched and fidgeted and squinted in the sunshine.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
In the studio and in meetings, Shulman has the restless energy of a kid—pacing around a room or fidgeting with a piano keyboard or bass guitar—combined with the intellectual affect of a quant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
Newby, who was being treated for a chest infection at the time, said he approached Farooq outside the maternity ward after spotting him fidgeting and looking anxious.
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026
"Some people might get really annoyed by fidgeting or repetitive movements but it doesn't impact massively on day-to-day life," she says.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2024
Suspicions were reportedly aroused when a test-taker was seen repeatedly fidgeting with their glasses frames, according to one source briefed on the probe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024
For John Faa had been fidgeting with impatience to tell them something.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.