fitfullyadv.
/ˈfɪtfᵿli/, /ˈfɪtfl̩i/, U.S. /ˈfɪtfəli/ In a fitful manner; by fits and starts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adverb] > intermittently
by (formerly also at) startsc1422
startmeal?c1422
off and on1535
every otherwhile1542
by, or in, snatches1577
by fits and turns1583
by halves and fits1583
one time with another1591
fit-meal1593
by fits and spurts1605
planetarily?1609
scatteredly1612
startinglya1616
by snaps1631
intermittingly1654
from space to space1658
on and off1668
at (by) intervals1744
cessantly1746
by spells1788
fitfully1792
by fits and spasms1797
everylikea1800
intermittently1800
intermittedly1829
interjectionally1837
jerkily1839
at seasons1850
sporadically1852
parenthetically1860
spasmodically1877
snatchily1880
variously1892
1792 W. Wordsworth Descr. Sketches in Poems (1888) 17/2 Fitfully, and in flashes, through his soul, Like sun-lit tempests, troubled transports roll.
1834 M. Somerville On Connexion Physical Sci. (1849) xxxvii. 424 Here we have a star fitfully variable.
1889 J. Ruskin Præterita III. iv. 181 The fireflies..shone fitfully in the still undarkened air.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1792