as in excitable
easily excited by nature
chickadees are skittery creatures, so don't expect them to linger at the bird feeder
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Recent Examples of skittery
At last, the alien—brought wonderfully to life, with an amusingly robotic voice and skittery movements, by the puppeteer James Ortiz—can tell his story.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026
The skittery ballad co-written by Andrew Goldstein (Maroon 5, Katy Perry) and singer-songwriter JXDN is the 29-year-old K-pop star’s first solo effort entirely in English following on the heels of March’s Beam EP, a three-track collaboration with SEVENTEEN bandmate Woozi.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 11 Nov. 2025
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026
The skittery ballad co-written by Andrew Goldstein (Maroon 5, Katy Perry) and singer-songwriter JXDN is the 29-year-old K-pop star’s first solo effort entirely in English following on the heels of March’s Beam EP, a three-track collaboration with SEVENTEEN bandmate Woozi.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 11 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skittery
Adjective
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At the Ricardo residence in the ’50s sitcom I Love Lucy, over-the-top housewife Lucy and Ricky, her excitable husband, were always getting into some sort of entertaining hijinks.—
Michael Gioia,
Architectural Digest,
1 Apr. 2026
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Between each dance was an excruciating silence during which network-TV producers monitored and reset their equipment while the men fidgeted onstage like excitable children.—
Rebecca Jennings,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Who isn’t nervous meeting the prospective in-laws for the first time?—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
31 Mar. 2026
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Jason Bateman delivers the mundane analogy like a pro, blending sincerity and uncertainty inside his singular, nervous vocal rhythms.—
Andy Andersen,
Vulture,
30 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Skittery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skittery. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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