"skittish" meaning in English

See skittish in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈskɪtɪʃ/, [ˈskɪɾɪʃ] (note: T-flapping) Audio: en-us-skittish.ogg Forms: more skittish [comparative], most skittish [superlative]
Rhymes: -ɪtɪʃ Etymology: Probably from skite (“to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction (Scotland, Northern England)”) + -ish; compare skitter. Etymology templates: {{suffix|en|skite|ish|gloss1=to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction (Scotland, Northern England)}} skite (“to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction (Scotland, Northern England)”) + -ish Head templates: {{en-adj}} skittish (comparative more skittish, superlative most skittish)
  1. Easily scared or startled; timid. Synonyms (easily scared or startled): spookish, jumpy, skittery, skitterish, squirrelly Translations (easily scared): խրտնող (xrtnoġ) (Armenian), плашлив (plašliv) (Bulgarian), tímid (Catalan), 胆小的 (Chinese Mandarin), 易受惊的 (Chinese Mandarin), bojácný (Czech), bázlivý (Czech), lekavý (Czech), schichtig (Dutch), ektimema (Esperanto), säikky (Finnish), timide (French), medorento (Galician), medroso (Galician), scheu (German), schreckhaft (German), pavorose (Interlingua), timide (Interlingua), pauroso (Italian), timoroso (Italian), pūohorere (Maori), խրչան (xrčʻan) (Middle Armenian), skvetten (Norwegian Nynorsk), płochliwy (Polish), timid (Romanian), пугли́вый (puglívyj) (Russian), боязли́вый (bojazlívyj) (Russian), temeroso (Spanish), tímido (Spanish), ürkek (Turkish)
    Sense id: en-skittish-en-adj-LQpNK4ZO Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ish, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Armenian translations, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Catalan translations, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Esperanto translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Galician translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Interlingua translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Maori translations, Terms with Middle Armenian translations, Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Romanian translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Turkish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 84 7 8 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ish: 78 12 10 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 81 8 11 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 86 4 9 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 92 3 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Armenian translations: 79 11 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 74 10 15 Disambiguation of Terms with Catalan translations: 79 11 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 79 11 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 80 8 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Esperanto translations: 88 5 7 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 79 11 9 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 78 8 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Galician translations: 79 11 9 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 80 9 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Interlingua translations: 90 4 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 87 5 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 77 13 10 Disambiguation of Terms with Maori translations: 79 11 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Middle Armenian translations: 96 2 2 Disambiguation of Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations: 93 4 3 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 76 13 11 Disambiguation of Terms with Romanian translations: 79 11 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 87 5 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 88 5 7 Disambiguation of Terms with Turkish translations: 80 11 9 Disambiguation of 'easily scared or startled': 96 3 1 Disambiguation of 'easily scared': 92 6 3
  2. Wanton; changeable; fickle. Translations (fickle): игрив (igriv) (Bulgarian), закачлив (zakačliv) (Bulgarian), launisch (German), unberechenbar (German), capriciose (Interlingua), capriccioso (Italian), volubile (Italian), płochy (Polish), caprichoso (Spanish), voluble (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-skittish-en-adj-GgfWewsp Disambiguation of 'fickle': 6 91 3
  3. Difficult to manage; tricky.
    Sense id: en-skittish-en-adj-jAExgk-l
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: skittishly, skittishness Related terms: startle

Alternative forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "skittishly"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "skittishness"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "skite",
        "3": "ish",
        "gloss1": "to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction (Scotland, Northern England)"
      },
      "expansion": "skite (“to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction (Scotland, Northern England)”) + -ish",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Probably from skite (“to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction (Scotland, Northern England)”) + -ish; compare skitter.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more skittish",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most skittish",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "skittish (comparative more skittish, superlative most skittish)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "skit‧tish"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "startle"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "84 7 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "78 12 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ish",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "81 8 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "86 4 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "92 3 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 11 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Armenian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "74 10 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 11 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Catalan translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 11 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Czech translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 8 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "88 5 7",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Esperanto translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 11 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "78 8 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 11 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Galician translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 9 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "90 4 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Interlingua translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "87 5 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "77 13 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 11 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Maori translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "96 2 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Middle Armenian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "93 4 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "76 13 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 11 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Romanian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "87 5 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "88 5 7",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 11 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Turkish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The dog likes people he knows, but he is skittish around strangers.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "1557, Roger Edgeworth, Sermons Very Fruitfull, Godly, and Learned, London: Robert Caly, The fiftenth treatice or Sermon,\nAll such be like a skittish starting horse, whiche coming ouer a bridge, wil start for a shadowe, or for a stone lying by him, and leapeth ouer on the other side into the water, & drowneth both horse and man."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Easily scared or startled; timid."
      ],
      "id": "en-skittish-en-adj-LQpNK4ZO",
      "links": [
        [
          "scare",
          "scare"
        ],
        [
          "startle",
          "startle"
        ],
        [
          "timid",
          "timid"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "sense": "easily scared or startled",
          "word": "spookish"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "sense": "easily scared or startled",
          "word": "jumpy"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "sense": "easily scared or startled",
          "word": "skittery"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "sense": "easily scared or startled",
          "word": "skitterish"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "sense": "easily scared or startled",
          "word": "squirrelly"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "hy",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "roman": "xrtnoġ",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "խրտնող"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "axm",
          "lang": "Middle Armenian",
          "roman": "xrčʻan",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "խրչան"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "plašliv",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "плашлив"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "tímid"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "胆小的"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "易受惊的"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "bojácný"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "bázlivý"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "lekavý"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "schichtig"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "ektimema"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "säikky"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "timide"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "medorento"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "medroso"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "scheu"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "schreckhaft"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "ia",
          "lang": "Interlingua",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "pavorose"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "ia",
          "lang": "Interlingua",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "timide"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "pauroso"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "timoroso"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "pūohorere"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "skvetten"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "płochliwy"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "timid"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "puglívyj",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "пугли́вый"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "bojazlívyj",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "боязли́вый"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "temeroso"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "tímido"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 6 3",
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "easily scared",
          "word": "ürkek"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:",
          "text": "How some men creep in skittish fortune’s hall,\nWhiles others play the idiots in her eyes!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1785, William Cowper, “Book II. The Time-piece.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 69:",
          "text": "[…] ’Tis pitiful\nTo court a grin, when you should wooe a soul;\nTo break a jest, when pity would inspire\nPathetic exhortation; and t’ address\nThe skittish fancy with facetious tales,\nWhen sent with God’s commission to the heart.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Wanton; changeable; fickle."
      ],
      "id": "en-skittish-en-adj-GgfWewsp",
      "links": [
        [
          "Wanton",
          "wanton"
        ],
        [
          "changeable",
          "changeable"
        ],
        [
          "fickle",
          "fickle"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "6 91 3",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "igriv",
          "sense": "fickle",
          "word": "игрив"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 91 3",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "zakačliv",
          "sense": "fickle",
          "word": "закачлив"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 91 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "fickle",
          "word": "launisch"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 91 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "fickle",
          "word": "unberechenbar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 91 3",
          "code": "ia",
          "lang": "Interlingua",
          "sense": "fickle",
          "word": "capriciose"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 91 3",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "fickle",
          "word": "capriccioso"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 91 3",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "fickle",
          "word": "volubile"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 91 3",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "fickle",
          "word": "płochy"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 91 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "fickle",
          "word": "caprichoso"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 91 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "fickle",
          "word": "voluble"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1871–1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter 15, in Middlemarch […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book (please specify |book=I to VIII):",
          "text": "For everybody’s family doctor was remarkably clever, and was understood to have immeasurable skill in the management and training of the most skittish or vicious diseases.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Difficult to manage; tricky."
      ],
      "id": "en-skittish-en-adj-jAExgk-l",
      "links": [
        [
          "tricky",
          "tricky"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskɪtɪʃ/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈskɪɾɪʃ]",
      "note": "T-flapping"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-skittish.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f0/En-us-skittish.ogg/En-us-skittish.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/En-us-skittish.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪtɪʃ"
    }
  ],
  "word": "skittish"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms suffixed with -ish",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪtɪʃ",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪtɪʃ/2 syllables",
    "Terms with Armenian translations",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Catalan translations",
    "Terms with Czech translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Esperanto translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Galician translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Interlingua translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Maori translations",
    "Terms with Middle Armenian translations",
    "Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Romanian translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Turkish translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "skittishly"
    },
    {
      "word": "skittishness"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "skite",
        "3": "ish",
        "gloss1": "to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction (Scotland, Northern England)"
      },
      "expansion": "skite (“to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction (Scotland, Northern England)”) + -ish",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Probably from skite (“to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction (Scotland, Northern England)”) + -ish; compare skitter.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more skittish",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most skittish",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "skittish (comparative more skittish, superlative most skittish)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "skit‧tish"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "startle"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The dog likes people he knows, but he is skittish around strangers.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "1557, Roger Edgeworth, Sermons Very Fruitfull, Godly, and Learned, London: Robert Caly, The fiftenth treatice or Sermon,\nAll such be like a skittish starting horse, whiche coming ouer a bridge, wil start for a shadowe, or for a stone lying by him, and leapeth ouer on the other side into the water, & drowneth both horse and man."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Easily scared or startled; timid."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "scare",
          "scare"
        ],
        [
          "startle",
          "startle"
        ],
        [
          "timid",
          "timid"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:",
          "text": "How some men creep in skittish fortune’s hall,\nWhiles others play the idiots in her eyes!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1785, William Cowper, “Book II. The Time-piece.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 69:",
          "text": "[…] ’Tis pitiful\nTo court a grin, when you should wooe a soul;\nTo break a jest, when pity would inspire\nPathetic exhortation; and t’ address\nThe skittish fancy with facetious tales,\nWhen sent with God’s commission to the heart.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Wanton; changeable; fickle."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Wanton",
          "wanton"
        ],
        [
          "changeable",
          "changeable"
        ],
        [
          "fickle",
          "fickle"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1871–1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter 15, in Middlemarch […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book (please specify |book=I to VIII):",
          "text": "For everybody’s family doctor was remarkably clever, and was understood to have immeasurable skill in the management and training of the most skittish or vicious diseases.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Difficult to manage; tricky."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "tricky",
          "tricky"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskɪtɪʃ/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈskɪɾɪʃ]",
      "note": "T-flapping"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-skittish.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f0/En-us-skittish.ogg/En-us-skittish.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/En-us-skittish.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪtɪʃ"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "easily scared or startled",
      "word": "spookish"
    },
    {
      "sense": "easily scared or startled",
      "word": "jumpy"
    },
    {
      "sense": "easily scared or startled",
      "word": "skittery"
    },
    {
      "sense": "easily scared or startled",
      "word": "skitterish"
    },
    {
      "sense": "easily scared or startled",
      "word": "squirrelly"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "xrtnoġ",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "խրտնող"
    },
    {
      "code": "axm",
      "lang": "Middle Armenian",
      "roman": "xrčʻan",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "խրչան"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "plašliv",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "плашлив"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "tímid"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "胆小的"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "易受惊的"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "bojácný"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "bázlivý"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "lekavý"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "schichtig"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "ektimema"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "säikky"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "timide"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "medorento"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "medroso"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "scheu"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "schreckhaft"
    },
    {
      "code": "ia",
      "lang": "Interlingua",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "pavorose"
    },
    {
      "code": "ia",
      "lang": "Interlingua",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "timide"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "pauroso"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "timoroso"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "pūohorere"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "skvetten"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "płochliwy"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "timid"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "puglívyj",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "пугли́вый"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "bojazlívyj",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "боязли́вый"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "temeroso"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "tímido"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "easily scared",
      "word": "ürkek"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "igriv",
      "sense": "fickle",
      "word": "игрив"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "zakačliv",
      "sense": "fickle",
      "word": "закачлив"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "fickle",
      "word": "launisch"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "fickle",
      "word": "unberechenbar"
    },
    {
      "code": "ia",
      "lang": "Interlingua",
      "sense": "fickle",
      "word": "capriciose"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "fickle",
      "word": "capriccioso"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "fickle",
      "word": "volubile"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "fickle",
      "word": "płochy"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "fickle",
      "word": "caprichoso"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "fickle",
      "word": "voluble"
    }
  ],
  "word": "skittish"
}

Download raw JSONL data for skittish meaning in English (8.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.