jumpyadj.
/ˈdʒʌmpi/, U.S. /ˈdʒəmpi/ 1. Characterized by jumps or sudden movements from one thing or state to another.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > sudden movement > [adjective]
fireworky1859
jumpy1869
1869 Daily News 25 Nov. ‘O Paradise’ was thus sung to a jumpy measure in six-eight time.
1893 Sc. Leader 15 July 3 The stock markets were in that condition best described as ‘jumpy’, though the jumps were generally in the downward direction.
2.
a. Characterized by sudden involuntary movements caused by nervous excitement; nervous, apprehensive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > physical symptoms of fear > [adjective] > of nervous agitation
twitchety1859
jumpy1879
the mind > emotion > fear > nervousness or uneasiness > [adjective] > nervous > in a state of nervous excitement
high-strung1653
tense1821
jumpy1879
nerve-ridden1892
geeked1989
1879 A. Forbes in Daily News 21 Aug. 5/3 Nothing..makes a man so jumpy and nervous as a good steady rain of shell-fire.
1894 A. Conan Doyle Round Red Lamp 11 It made me jumpy to watch him.
1918 H. V. O'Brien Diary 7 Jan. in Wine, Women & War (1926) 10 No trip for anybody with jumpy nerves.
1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned ii. 208 You'd look all goo-ey and jumpy about your Dione and give the show away.
1957 Sat. Evening Post 21 Sept. 94 One of our pals in the nightclub business is jumpy and he needs a bodyguard tonight.
1974 G. Markstein Cooler xlvi. 167 She was jumpy about the blackout too... She is on edge, he decided.
b. Producing nervous excitement.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > [adjective] > characterized by or causing
commotive1605
nervous1775
jumpy1883
hectic1904
1883 R. F. Burton & V. F. Cameron To Gold Coast I. iii. 75 The people seem to delight in standing, like wild goats, upon the dizziest of ‘jumpy’ peaks.
1896 Westm. Gaz. 11 Jan. 3/1 The adventure which might be called the most ‘jumpy’.
Derivatives
ˈjumpiness n. the state or condition of being jumpy.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > physical symptoms of fear > [noun] > sudden start > state of being jumpy
jumpiness1897
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 854 There is, indeed, a general condition of jumpiness and nervousness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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