twitchilyadv.
/ˈtwɪtʃᵻli/, U.S. /ˈtwɪtʃᵻli/ In a twitchy manner; nervously, agitatedly; (also) jerkily, jumpily.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > physical symptoms of fear > [adverb] > in a nervously agitated manner
nervously1816
twitchily1905
trepidly1911
1905 Ladysmith (Brit. Columbia) Daily Ledger 6 Dec. The muscles of her arm acted so twitchily that she could not lift her coffee cup.
1931 World's News (Sydney) 6 May 29/1 The light flashed twitchily into the blackness of the stairway and turned away.
1978 J. Updike Coup (1979) iii. 108 She no longer moved like the great-granddaughter of a leopard, but more electrically, twitchily, like a modern woman connected to a variety of energy-sources.
2007 Times 25 June 13/6 Others will be sitting twitchily in the corner of pubs and restaurants, scratching themselves and applying nicotine patches.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1905- to be themselves
- to be there
- to be there for
- to be thereafter
- to be thick o' fog
- to be thorough game
- to be thorough with
- to be threshed with your own flail
- to be through with
- to be through with one's star
- to be thrown on one's own resources
- to be thrown out of the window
- to be thrown out the window
- to be tied by the leg
- to be tied for time
- to be tied to time
- to be to
- to be to be like putty in a person's hands
- to be to do
- to be to do with
- to be to mean
- to be to meaning
- to be to pieces
- to be to purpose
- to be to rede