AGITATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does agitation mean? 

• AGITATION (noun)
  The noun AGITATION has 5 senses:

1. a mental state of extreme emotional disturbance

2. a state of agitation or turbulent change or development

3. the feeling of being agitated; not calm

4. disturbance usually in protest

5. the act of agitating something; causing it to move around (usually vigorously)

  Familiarity information: AGITATION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AGITATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mental state of extreme emotional disturbance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("agitation" is a kind of...):

mental condition; mental state; psychological condition; psychological state ((psychology) a mental condition in which the qualities of a state are relatively constant even though the state itself may be dynamic)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "agitation"):

disturbance; perturbation; upset (an unhappy and worried mental state)

fret; lather; stew; sweat; swither (agitation resulting from active worry)

dither; flap; fuss; pother; tizzy (an excited state of agitation)

tailspin (loss of emotional control often resulting in emotional collapse)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A state of agitation or turbulent change or development

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

agitation; ferment; fermentation; tempestuousness; unrest

Context example:

social unrest

Hypernyms ("agitation" is a kind of...):

Sturm und Drang; turbulence; upheaval (a state of violent disturbance and disorder (as in politics or social conditions generally))

Sense 3

Meaning:

The feeling of being agitated; not calm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("agitation" is a kind of...):

feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "agitation"):

unrest (a feeling of restless agitation)

fidget; fidgetiness; restlessness (a feeling of agitation expressed in continual motion)

stewing (an extreme state of worry and agitation)

stir (emotional agitation and excitement)

tumult; turmoil (violent agitation)

Antonym:

calmness (a feeling of calm; an absence of agitation or excitement)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Disturbance usually in protest

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

agitation; excitement; hullabaloo; turmoil; upheaval

Hypernyms ("agitation" is a kind of...):

disturbance (the act of disturbing something or someone; setting something in motion)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The act of agitating something; causing it to move around (usually vigorously)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("agitation" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "agitation"):

shaking (the act of causing something to move up and down (or back and forth) with quick movements)

stirring (agitating a liquid with an implement)

shake; wag; waggle (causing to move repeatedly from side to side)

worrying (the act of moving something by repeated tugs or pushes)

 Context examples 

“All six there? Then my horse is running,” cried the Colonel in great agitation.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Dorothy, meanwhile, no less struck by your appearance, gazes on you in great agitation, and drops a few unintelligible hints.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Hopkins’s writing shows considerable agitation, and he is not an emotional man.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The movement of chemical species under the influence of a concentration difference and as a result of random thermal agitation.

(Diffusion, NCI Thesaurus)

She had not yet sufficiently recovered from her agitation to be quite prepared for the visit we had to make.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It is also used as a premedicant, as an antiemetic, and for the control of agitation in acute psychoses.

(Droperidol, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Till she had shed many tears over this deception, Fanny could not subdue her agitation; and the dejection which followed could only be relieved by the influence of fervent prayers for his happiness.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Mixing of dry ingredients by mechanical agitation within a containment zone.

(Dry Powder Convection Mixing, NCI Thesaurus)

A disorder characterized by the acute and sudden development of confusion, illusions, movement changes, inattentiveness, agitation, and hallucinations.

(Delirium, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

A disorder characterized by CONFUSION; inattentiveness; disorientation; ILLUSIONS; HALLUCINATIONS; agitation; and in some instances autonomic nervous system overactivity.

(Delirium, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)