Fitful

Pronunciation

Origin

From fit + -ful.

Full definition of fitful

Adjective

1. Irregular; unsteady; characterized by fits.His breathing was fitful.
• 1605, Shakespeare, Macbeth,... Duncan is in his grave;After life's fitful fever he sleeps well;
• 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick,The cabin lamp—taking long swings this way and that— was burning fitfully, and casting fitful shadows upon the old man’s bolted door ...
• 2012, The Economist, The economy: Don’t say “green shoots”So fitful has Britain’s economy been that any good news is understandably snatched at.

Derived terms

• fitfully
• fitfulness