restless

English

Etymology

From Middle English restles, restelees, from Old English ræstlēas, equivalent to rest +‎ -less.

Pronunciation

enPR: rĕstʹlĭs, IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛstlɪs/
Audio (US): (file)
(weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛstləs/
Hyphenation: rest‧less

Adjective

restless (comparative more restless, superlative most restless)

Not allowing or affording rest.
The night before his wedding was a restless one.
Without rest; unable to be still or quiet; uneasy; continually moving.
Synonym: antsy

He was a restless child.

She sat, restless and nervous, and tried to concentrate.
- 2024 March 11, Madeline Holcombe, “What to do on the nights you are struggling with insomnia, according to experts”, in CNN‎^[1]:
  If that is the case, she recommends getting up, walking around the house and doing some stretches to ease the restless feeling before trying again to get to sleep.
Not satisfied to be at rest or in peace; averse to repose; eager for change; discontented.
A restless ambition.
Deprived of rest or sleep.
They remained restless, sitting by the window the entire night.

Derived terms

Translations

not allowing or affording rest

Bulgarian: неспокоен (bg) (nespokoen)
Catalan: intranquil (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 不眠的 (bù mián de)
Danish: hvileløs, urolig
Finnish: levoton (fi), uneton (fi)
French: inquiet (fr)
German: unruhig (de)
Hungarian: nyugtalan (hu)
Italian: instancabile (it)
Maori: whakariuka, tūrama, tūramarama
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hvileløs, urolig (no)
Polish: bez odpoczynku
Portuguese: desassossegado (pt)
Russian: беспоко́йный (ru) (bespokójnyj), трево́жный (ru) (trevóžnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: mì-shuaimhneach

unable to be still or quiet

Bulgarian: който не може да си намери място (kojto ne može da si nameri mjasto)
Catalan: inquiet (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 坐不住的 (zuòbuzhù de), 浮躁 (zh) (fúzào)
Czech: neklidný
Danish: rastløs, urolig
Dutch: rusteloos (nl)
Esperanto: malkvieta
Finnish: levoton (fi)
German: unruhig (de)
Greek: ανήσυχος (el) (anísychos)
Hebrew: חֲסַר מָנוֹחַ m (ẖasár manóaẖ)
Ingrian: raisu
Irish: luaineach, aistreach
Italian: irrequieto (it)
Latin: inquiēs
Maori: kanae (of the eyes), toropuku (of sleep), titoro (of sleep), tāwheta, ārewa, tiu, tourepa
Norwegian:
Bokmål: rastløs (no), urolig (no)

Nynorsk: rastlaus
Persian: بی‌قرار (fa) (bi-qarâr)
Polish: niespokojny (pl)
Portuguese: inquieto (pt)
Romanian: neliniștit (ro), agitat (ro)
Russian: беспоко́йный (ru) (bespokójnyj), неугомо́нный (ru) (neugomónnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: siùbhlach, an-fhoiseil
Spanish: inquieto (es)
Ukrainian: неспокі́йний (nespokíjnyj)

not satisfied to be at rest or peace

Bulgarian: нетърпелив (bg) (netǎrpeliv)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 坐不住的 (zuòbuzhù de), 不安於現狀的 / 不安于现状的 (bù ānyúxiànzhuàng de)
Finnish: levoton (fi)
German: ruhelos, rastlos (de)
Hungarian: nyughatatlan (hu)
Ingrian: raisu
Latin: implacidus
Maori: taoi
Norwegian:
Bokmål: rastløs (no)
Polish: niezaspokojony
Portuguese: incansável (pt)
Scottish Gaelic: siùbhlach, an-fhoiseil

deprived of rest or sleep

Catalan: desvetllat
Chinese:
Mandarin: 難以入睡的 / 难以入睡的 (zuòbuzhù de), 不安于现状的 (nányǐ rùshuì de)
Danish: hvileløs
Finnish: levoton (fi)
Ingrian: raisu
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hvileløs
Plautdietsch: schloplooss
Polish: bez odpoczynku

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: ^{(please verify)} roerig (nl)
Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} maltrankvila
French: ^{(please verify)} agité (fr), ^{(please verify)} impatient (fr)
German: ^{(please verify)} ruhelos, ^{(please verify)} unruhig (de)
Irish: ^{(please verify)} luaileach
Woiwurrung: ^{(please verify)} wilke-wilke ni-e-â

References

William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “restless”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
“restless”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

Tesslers, tressels