fitful
/ˈfɪtf(ə)l/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.21 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Characterized by sudden bursts of activity with periods of inactivity in between; intermittent, irregular, unsteady.
Example Sentences
- "Duncane is in his Graue: After Lifes fitfull Feuer, he ſleepes well, Treaſon ha's done his worſt: not Steele, not Poyſon, Mallice domeſtique, forraine Leuie, nothing, Can touch him further."
- "His breathing was fitful."
- "Troubled by her unfinished work, she fell into a fitful sleep."
- "Harp of the North! that mouldering long hast hung On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring, And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, Till envious ivy did around thee cling, Muffling with verdant ringlet every string,— […]"
- "Like the figures on arras, that gloomily glare Stirred by the breath of the wintry air, So seen by the dying lamp's fitful light, Lifeless, but life-like, and awful to sight; […]"
- "The cabin lamp—taking long swings this way and that— was burning fitfully, and casting fitful shadows upon the old man’s bolted door,—a thin one, with fixed blinds inserted, in place of upper panels."
Etymology
From fit (“convulsion, seizure; sudden burst of activity”) + -ful (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, with the sense of being full of, tending to, or thoroughly possessing the quality expressed by the noun).
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɪtf(ə)l/
- British English: /ˈfɪtf(ʊ)l/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more fitful (comparative)
most fitful (superlative)