RESTLESSNESS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does restlessness mean? 

• RESTLESSNESS (noun)
  The noun RESTLESSNESS has 4 senses:

1. the quality of being ceaselessly moving or active

2. a lack of patience; irritation with anything that causes delay

3. a feeling of agitation expressed in continual motion

4. inability to rest or relax or be still

  Familiarity information: RESTLESSNESS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RESTLESSNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of being ceaselessly moving or active

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the restlessness of the wind

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

mobility (the quality of moving freely)

Derivation:

restless (ceaselessly in motion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A lack of patience; irritation with anything that causes delay

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

impatience; restlessness

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

annoyance; botheration; irritation; vexation (the psychological state of being irritated or annoyed)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A feeling of agitation expressed in continual motion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

fidget; fidgetiness; restlessness

Context example:

waiting gave him a feeling of restlessness

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

agitation (the feeling of being agitated; not calm)

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

impatience (a restless desire for change and excitement)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Inability to rest or relax or be still

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

queasiness; restlessness; uneasiness

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

nervousness (a sensitive or highly strung temperament)

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

jactation; jactitation ((pathology) extremely restless tossing and twitching usually by a person with a severe illness)

Derivation:

restless (worried and uneasy)

restless (lacking or not affording physical or mental rest)

 Context examples 

A disorder characterized by a state of restlessness associated with unpleasant feelings of irritability and tension.

(Agitation, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

Think of her appearance, Watson—her manner, her suppressed excitement, her restlessness, her tenacity in asking questions.

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

She is quite odd in one thing: she will not admit to me that there is any cause for restlessness; or if there be, she does not understand it herself.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale (BARS) Subjective, awareness of restlessness.

(BARS - Subjective, Awareness, NCI Thesaurus)

The next day White Fang's anxiety and restlessness were even more pronounced.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

A state of restlessness associated with unpleasant feelings of irritability and tension.

(Agitation, NCI Thesaurus)

He was not calm; his spirits were evidently fluttered; there was restlessness about him.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

It was but to think of her conversation with Edmund, and what was the restlessness of Mrs. Norris?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I could not help it: the restlessness was in my nature; it agitated me to pain sometimes.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Mothers who suffered from stress and anxiety in the prenatal period were more likely to see their child display behavioural problems such as temper tantrums, restlessness and spitefulness.

(Prenatal parental stress linked to behaviour problems in toddlers, University of Cambridge)