skittishadj.

Brit.

/ˈskɪtɪʃ/, U.S.

/ˈskɪdɪʃ/

Forms: Also 1500s skyttys(s)he, skytysshe, scittish.

Etymology: Of obscure origin: perhaps < a Scandinavian base *skyt- (see skit v.²) + -ish suffix¹.

1. Of disposition, etc.: Characterized by levity, frivolity, or excessive liveliness.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > excitement > excitability of temperament > spiritedness or liveliness > [adjective] > excessively lively

skittishc1412

corky1746

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > capricious or whimsical

startfulmood?a1300

wildc1350

volage?a1366

gerfulc1374

geryc1386

wild-headeda1400

skittishc1412

gerish1430

shittle1440

shittle-witted1448

runningc1449

volageous1487

glaikit1488

fantasious1490

giggish1523

tickle or light of the sear?1530

fantastical1531

wayward1531

wantona1538

peevish1539

light-headed1549

humoral1573

unstaid1579

shittle-headed1580

toy-headed1581

fangled1587

humorous1589

choiceful1591

toyish1598

tricksy1598

skip-brain1603

capricious1605

humoursome1607

planetary1607

vertiginous1609

whimsieda1625

ingiddied1628

whimsy1637

toysome1638

cocklec1640

mercurial1647

garish1650

maggoty1650

kicksey-winseya1652

freakish1653

humourish1653

planetic1653

whimsical1653

shittle-braineda1655

freaking1663

maggoty-headed1667

maggot-pated1681

hoity-toity1690

maggotish1693

maggot-headeda1695

whimsy-headed1699

fantasque1701

crotchetly1702

quixotic1718

volatile1719

holloweda1734

conundrumical1743

flighty1768

fly-away1775

dizzy1780

whimmy1785

shy1787

whimming1787

quirky1789

notional1791

tricksome1815

vagarish1819

freakful1820

faddy1824

moodish1827

mawky1837

erratic1841

rockety1843

quirkish1848

maggoty-pated1850

crotchetya1854

freaksome1854

faddish1855

vagrom1882

fantasied1883

vagarisome1883

on-and-offish1888

tricksical1889

freaky1891

hobby-horsical1893

quirksome1896

temperamental1907

up and down1960

untogether1969

fanciful-

fantastic-

c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 590 Whan þat þou hast assayde boþe two, Sad age, I seye, after þi skittish youþe.

14.. Six Ballads (Percy Soc.) 10 My dere is off a skyttyshe brayne.

a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. xxvii Lewelyn..rebellyd agayne the Kyng, for so moche as syr Edwarde his Sone..wolde haue chaungyd some of theyr skyttyshe condycyons.

1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 230 Fancie, being very turbulent & skittish,..is the cause that wee liue in the middest of marueilous troubles in respect of our affections.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Perversité, a skittish, giddy, or vntoward humor to doe an vnlawfull, or ill, thing.

1678 S. Butler Hudibras: Third Pt. iii. ii. 121 He still resolv'd..T' Adhere, and Cleave the Obstinater: And still the skittisher and looser, Her Freaks appear'd, to sit the Closer.

1751 S. Richardson Clarissa (ed. 3) II. xxii. 135 If you think you can part with her for her skittish tricks.

1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 470 T' address The skittish fancy with facetious tales.

1882 Tennyson in Life (1897) I. 95 I considered it [a critique] at the time as somewhat too skittish and petulant.

1894 J. Knight D. Garrick iv. 68 Macklin claims to have supplied a curiously unconventional and skittish rhymed apology.

in combination.1605 N. Breton Soules Immortall Crowne i. sig. C2 How Fancie like a Flea, Can skip about a skittish humour'd hart.

a. Of horses, etc.: Disposed or apt to start or be unruly without sufficient cause; given to shying or restiveness through high spirits or playfulness; unduly lively or spirited.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > temperament > [adjective] > spirited or skittish

skeyc1440

skittish?1510

skeigh1513

fiery?1561

gay1590

sprightful1598

frampold1600

mettleablec1600

mettle1606

fire-snort1608

mettleda1627

spiritly1630

spiritful1644

mettlesome1655

skeighish1827

flighty1828

slashing1862

fly-about1889

buckish1911

snuffy1955

?1510 T. More tr. G. Pico della Mirandola in tr. G. F. Pico della Mirandola Lyfe I. Picus sig. d.iii^v These grete fortunes lift vp a man hie..but oftyn times as a fierce and a skittissh hors they cast of their maister.

1519 W. Horman Vulgaria iii. f. 37 I had a sore falle of a skyttysshe horse.

1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God viii. xviii. 202 The old asse..became resty and skittish, ready to kick.

1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. xi. 178 Great is the difference betwixt a swift horse, and a skittish, that will stand on no ground.

1707 tr. M.-C. d'Aulnoy Diverting Wks. 638 The skittish Beast being affrighted..gave two Starts and threw the Prince to the Ground.

1758 T. Warton Idler 2 Dec. 273 Horse skittish, and wants exercise.

1801 M. Edgeworth Good French Governess in Moral Tales V. 70 The ass..is sometimes skittish and playful.

1882 B. D. W. Ramsay Recoll. Mil. Serv. I. i. 8 A very skittish, and at times vicious, thoroughbred colt.

figurative and in extended use.1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. vi. 370 These skittish Lands will dismount all that bestride them.1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians II. lvi. 208 Balancing our skittish bark upon the green waters.

b. Similarly of other animals.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > by nature > [adjective] > restless or unruly

mockisha1529

unruly1544

undemure?1548

skittish1600

lawless1854

uneasy1855

rowdy1872

1600 Maydes Metamorphosis i. i A heard of skittish Deere.

1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iv. xvii. 198 A trick to stroke the skittish cow to get down her milk.

1837 T. Hood Ode R. Wilson 241 Exactly as a skittish Scottish bull Hunts an old woman in a scarlet cloak.

3. Fickle, inconstant, changeable; tricky, difficult to deal with or manage.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective]

unfastc888

unstathelfasteOE

unsteadfasta1200

fleeting?c1225

changeablea1275

ficklea1275

unstablec1290

waveringc1315

flickerc1325

loose in the haftc1325

motleyc1380

unsadc1384

variablea1387

variantc1386

ticklec1400

inconstant1402

flitting1413

brittle1420

plianta1425

mutablec1425

shittle1440

shittle-witted1448

moonishc1450

unconstant1483

unfirm1483

varying?a1500

pliablea1513

fluctuant1575

changeling1577

shittle-headed1580

cheverel1583

off and on1583

chameleon-like1589

changeful1590

limber1602

unsteady1604

ticklish1606

skittish1609

startling1619

labile1623

uncertaina1625

cheverelized1625

remuant1625

fluctuate1631

fluctuary1632

various1636

contrarious1643

epileptical1646

fluxilea1654

shittle-braineda1655

multivolent1656

totter-headed1662

on and off1668

self-inconsistent1678

weathercocka1680

whifflinga1680

versatile1682

veering1684

fast and loose1697

inconsistent1709

insteadfast1728

unfixing1810

unsteadied1814

chameleonic1821

labefact1874

ballastless1884

weathercocky1886

whiffle-minded1902

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. iii. 129 How some men creepe in skittish fortunes hall.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iv. 17 Such as I am, all true Louers are, Vnstaid and skittish in all motions else.

1657 H. Hammond Some Profitable Direct. Priest & People 27 What skittish things popular benevolence, and popular applause have been alwaies found to be.

1844 N. P. Willis Lady Jane ii. 411 A ‘scribbler's’ is a skittish reputation.

1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch I. ii. xv. 252 The management and training of the most skittish or vicious diseases.

4. Spirited, active, lively; frolicsome.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > excitement > excitability of temperament > spiritedness or liveliness > [adjective] > boisterously lively

exuberant?1504

flagartie1535

unsober1542

unstaida1557

coltisha1586

skittisha1592

unsettled1594

untameful1607

tearing1654

boisterousa1683

rackety1773

rumbustiousa1777

ranty1783

polrumptious1787

spanking1801

flisky1807

uproarious1819

unplacid1825

skylarking1826

fizzy1855

polyphloisboisterousa1875

polyphloisbic1915

raucous1919

boysy1921

bang-about1933

Tigger-like1974

a1592 R. Greene Sc. Hist. Iames IV (1598) iv. sig. G4 She is like a frog in a parcely bed, as scittish as an ele.

a1625 J. Fletcher Wild-goose Chase (1652) ii. iii. 21 He slights us As skittish things... May be my free behaviour turns his stomach.

1665 S. Pepys Diary 26 July (1972) VI. 170 [He] is the most skittish, leaping gallant that ever I saw, always in action.

1709 M. Prior Let. 4 Aug. in H. Bunbury Corr. Sir T. Hanmer (1838) 121 If you hear of a Welch widdow..that has her goings and is not very skittish.

1813 H. Smith & J. Smith Horace in London ii. vii. 131 One night at the British, We grew rather skittish, And sallied out fighting the rabble.

1887 A. Jessopp Arcady v. 166 Sobriety of dress must be enforced, and skittish widows protected from their own volatile tastes.

5. Inclined to show coyness or reserve.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > humility > modesty > shyness or bashfulness > [adjective] > coy

coyc1386

nicea1400

coylya1542

skeighc1560

coyish1566

skittish1648

maidenish1749

maidish1822

1648 Merc. Publicus No. 2. ⁋9 The Irish wench hee thought to hold By force, but she was skittish.

a1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Art of Love (1709) i. 52 Name not your self her Lover, but her Friend. How many skittish Girls have thus been caught?

1774 J. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) 42 They are, therefore, jealous of each other—fearful, timid, skittish.

1840 F. Trollope Widow Married I. ii. 54 So skittish that she would never let one speak to her.

1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia VI. xxi. iv. 475 Kaunitz and his Empress are extremely skittish in the matter, and as if quite refuse it at first.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	skittish
释义	skittishadj. Brit. /ˈskɪtɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈskɪdɪʃ/ Forms: Also 1500s skyttys(s)he, skytysshe, scittish. Etymology: Of obscure origin: perhaps < a Scandinavian base skyt- (see skit v.²) + -ish suffix¹. 1. Of disposition, etc.: Characterized by levity, frivolity, or excessive liveliness. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > excitement > excitability of temperament > spiritedness or liveliness > [adjective] > excessively lively skittishc1412 corky1746 the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > capricious or whimsical startfulmood?a1300 wildc1350 volage?a1366 gerfulc1374 geryc1386 wild-headeda1400 skittishc1412 gerish1430 shittle1440 shittle-witted1448 runningc1449 volageous1487 glaikit1488 fantasious1490 giggish1523 tickle or light of the sear?1530 fantastical1531 wayward1531 wantona1538 peevish1539 light-headed1549 humoral1573 unstaid1579 shittle-headed1580 toy-headed1581 fangled1587 humorous1589 choiceful1591 toyish1598 tricksy1598 skip-brain1603 capricious1605 humoursome1607 planetary1607 vertiginous1609 whimsieda1625 ingiddied1628 whimsy1637 toysome1638 cocklec1640 mercurial1647 garish1650 maggoty1650 kicksey-winseya1652 freakish1653 humourish1653 planetic1653 whimsical1653 shittle-braineda1655 freaking1663 maggoty-headed1667 maggot-pated1681 hoity-toity1690 maggotish1693 maggot-headeda1695 whimsy-headed1699 fantasque1701 crotchetly1702 quixotic1718 volatile1719 holloweda1734 conundrumical1743 flighty1768 fly-away1775 dizzy1780 whimmy1785 shy1787 whimming1787 quirky1789 notional1791 tricksome1815 vagarish1819 freakful1820 faddy1824 moodish1827 mawky1837 erratic1841 rockety1843 quirkish1848 maggoty-pated1850 crotchetya1854 freaksome1854 faddish1855 vagrom1882 fantasied1883 vagarisome1883 on-and-offish1888 tricksical1889 freaky1891 hobby-horsical1893 quirksome1896 temperamental1907 up and down1960 untogether1969 fanciful- fantastic- c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum* 590 Whan þat þou hast assayde boþe two, Sad age, I seye, after þi skittish youþe. 14.. Six Ballads (Percy Soc.) 10 My dere is off a skyttyshe brayne. a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. xxvii Lewelyn..rebellyd agayne the Kyng, for so moche as syr Edwarde his Sone..wolde haue chaungyd some of theyr skyttyshe condycyons. 1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 230 Fancie, being very turbulent & skittish,..is the cause that wee liue in the middest of marueilous troubles in respect of our affections. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Perversité, a skittish, giddy, or vntoward humor to doe an vnlawfull, or ill, thing. 1678 S. Butler Hudibras: Third Pt. iii. ii. 121 He still resolv'd..T' Adhere, and Cleave the Obstinater: And still the skittisher and looser, Her Freaks appear'd, to sit the Closer. 1751 S. Richardson Clarissa (ed. 3) II. xxii. 135 If you think you can part with her for her skittish tricks. 1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 470 T' address The skittish fancy with facetious tales. 1882 Tennyson in Life (1897) I. 95 I considered it [a critique] at the time as somewhat too skittish and petulant. 1894 J. Knight D. Garrick iv. 68 Macklin claims to have supplied a curiously unconventional and skittish rhymed apology. in combination.1605 N. Breton Soules Immortall Crowne i. sig. C2 How Fancie like a Flea, Can skip about a skittish humour'd hart. 2. a. Of horses, etc.: Disposed or apt to start or be unruly without sufficient cause; given to shying or restiveness through high spirits or playfulness; unduly lively or spirited. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > temperament > [adjective] > spirited or skittish skeyc1440 skittish?1510 skeigh1513 fiery?1561 gay1590 sprightful1598 frampold1600 mettleablec1600 mettle1606 fire-snort1608 mettleda1627 spiritly1630 spiritful1644 mettlesome1655 skeighish1827 flighty1828 slashing1862 fly-about1889 buckish1911 snuffy1955 ?1510 T. More tr. G. Pico della Mirandola in tr. G. F. Pico della Mirandola Lyfe I. Picus sig. d.iii^v These grete fortunes lift vp a man hie..but oftyn times as a fierce and a skittissh hors they cast of their maister. 1519 W. Horman Vulgaria iii. f. 37 I had a sore falle of a skyttysshe horse. 1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God viii. xviii. 202 The old asse..became resty and skittish, ready to kick. 1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. xi. 178 Great is the difference betwixt a swift horse, and a skittish, that will stand on no ground. 1707 tr. M.-C. d'Aulnoy Diverting Wks. 638 The skittish Beast being affrighted..gave two Starts and threw the Prince to the Ground. 1758 T. Warton Idler 2 Dec. 273 Horse skittish, and wants exercise. 1801 M. Edgeworth Good French Governess in Moral Tales V. 70 The ass..is sometimes skittish and playful. 1882 B. D. W. Ramsay Recoll. Mil. Serv. I. i. 8 A very skittish, and at times vicious, thoroughbred colt. figurative and in extended use.1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. vi. 370 These skittish Lands will dismount all that bestride them.1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians II. lvi. 208 Balancing our skittish bark upon the green waters. b. Similarly of other animals. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > by nature > [adjective] > restless or unruly mockisha1529 unruly1544 undemure?1548 skittish1600 lawless1854 uneasy1855 rowdy1872 1600 Maydes Metamorphosis i. i A heard of skittish Deere. 1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iv. xvii. 198 A trick to stroke the skittish cow to get down her milk. 1837 T. Hood Ode R. Wilson 241 Exactly as a skittish Scottish bull Hunts an old woman in a scarlet cloak. 3. Fickle, inconstant, changeable; tricky, difficult to deal with or manage. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] unfastc888 unstathelfasteOE unsteadfasta1200 fleeting?c1225 changeablea1275 ficklea1275 unstablec1290 waveringc1315 flickerc1325 loose in the haftc1325 motleyc1380 unsadc1384 variablea1387 variantc1386 ticklec1400 inconstant1402 flitting1413 brittle1420 plianta1425 mutablec1425 shittle1440 shittle-witted1448 moonishc1450 unconstant1483 unfirm1483 varying?a1500 pliablea1513 fluctuant1575 changeling1577 shittle-headed1580 cheverel1583 off and on1583 chameleon-like1589 changeful1590 limber1602 unsteady1604 ticklish1606 skittish1609 startling1619 labile1623 uncertaina1625 cheverelized1625 remuant1625 fluctuate1631 fluctuary1632 various1636 contrarious1643 epileptical1646 fluxilea1654 shittle-braineda1655 multivolent1656 totter-headed1662 on and off1668 self-inconsistent1678 weathercocka1680 whifflinga1680 versatile1682 veering1684 fast and loose1697 inconsistent1709 insteadfast1728 unfixing1810 unsteadied1814 chameleonic1821 labefact1874 ballastless1884 weathercocky1886 whiffle-minded1902 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. iii. 129 How some men creepe in skittish fortunes hall. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iv. 17 Such as I am, all true Louers are, Vnstaid and skittish in all motions else. View more context for this quotation 1657 H. Hammond Some Profitable Direct. Priest & People 27 What skittish things popular benevolence, and popular applause have been alwaies found to be. 1844 N. P. Willis Lady Jane ii. 411 A ‘scribbler's’ is a skittish reputation. 1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch I. ii. xv. 252 The management and training of the most skittish or vicious diseases. 4. Spirited, active, lively; frolicsome. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > excitement > excitability of temperament > spiritedness or liveliness > [adjective] > boisterously lively exuberant?1504 flagartie1535 unsober1542 unstaida1557 coltisha1586 skittisha1592 unsettled1594 untameful1607 tearing1654 boisterousa1683 rackety1773 rumbustiousa1777 ranty1783 polrumptious1787 spanking1801 flisky1807 uproarious1819 unplacid1825 skylarking1826 fizzy1855 polyphloisboisterousa1875 polyphloisbic1915 raucous1919 boysy1921 bang-about1933 Tigger-like1974 a1592 R. Greene Sc. Hist. Iames IV (1598) iv. sig. G4 She is like a frog in a parcely bed, as scittish as an ele. a1625 J. Fletcher Wild-goose Chase (1652) ii. iii. 21 He slights us As skittish things... May be my free behaviour turns his stomach. 1665 S. Pepys Diary 26 July (1972) VI. 170 [He] is the most skittish, leaping gallant that ever I saw, always in action. 1709 M. Prior Let. 4 Aug. in H. Bunbury Corr. Sir T. Hanmer (1838) 121 If you hear of a Welch widdow..that has her goings and is not very skittish. 1813 H. Smith & J. Smith Horace in London ii. vii. 131 One night at the British, We grew rather skittish, And sallied out fighting the rabble. 1887 A. Jessopp Arcady v. 166 Sobriety of dress must be enforced, and skittish widows protected from their own volatile tastes. 5. Inclined to show coyness or reserve. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > humility > modesty > shyness or bashfulness > [adjective] > coy coyc1386 nicea1400 coylya1542 skeighc1560 coyish1566 skittish1648 maidenish1749 maidish1822 1648 Merc. Publicus No. 2. ⁋9 The Irish wench hee thought to hold By force, but she was skittish. a1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Art of Love (1709) i. 52 Name not your self her Lover, but her Friend. How many skittish Girls have thus been caught? 1774 J. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) 42 They are, therefore, jealous of each other—fearful, timid, skittish. 1840 F. Trollope Widow Married I. ii. 54 So skittish that she would never let one speak to her. 1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia VI. xxi. iv. 475 Kaunitz and his Empress are extremely skittish in the matter, and as if quite refuse it at first. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.c1412
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