Dictionary

jumpy en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈd͡ʒʌmpi/
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English jump Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English jumpy From jump + -y.

Meanings

1. Nervous and excited.
   • It was the butler who saw him go. Twelve o'clock at night and raining hard. So next night I was up at the house and, sure enough, master was off again. Stephens and I went after him, but it was jumpy work, for it would have been a bad job if he had seen us. 1927 March 5, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place”, in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, published June 1927, →OCLC, page 281:
   • "I wish it was well over," admitted Hollyer. "I'm not particularly jumpy, but this gives me a touch of the creeps." 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
2. Tending to jump; full of jumps.
   • We moved at a good clip, so I reached up to pull shut the window coverings, just in case this jumpy frog decided to escape. 2018, Candice Gilmer, Ending The Curse:
   • Near-synonym: saltatory
   • Meanwhile, the car pursued its jumpy course, and I could not prevent myself laughing. 2022, Maurice Renard, New Bodies for Old:

Forms

Deriveds

jumpiness · jumpily

Synonyms

saltatory

Translations (16)

bg нервен (nervous and excited) · da nervøs (nervous and excited) · nl zenuwachtig (nervous and excited) · ja ビクビク (nervous and excited) · nl nerveus (nervous and excited) · ja ビクッ (nervous and excited) · unm sàlàxsi (nervous and excited) · ka გულფიცხი (nervous and excited) · bg неспокоен (nervous and excited) · la trepidus (nervous and excited) · ka ნერვული (nervous and excited) · nl nerveuze (nervous and excited) · nl zenuwachtige (nervous and excited) · fr nerveux (nervous and excited) · de nervös (nervous and excited) · fi hermostunut (nervous and excited)