fitful
fitful — adjective
- fitfulpositive
- more fitfulcomparative
- most fitfulsuperlative
1. not happening steadily or smoothly, but with pauses and irregular changes in spe
not happening steadily or smoothly, but with pauses and irregular changes in speed or strength
After the scary movie, Elena’s sleep was fitful and she woke up several times.
fitful sleep (common collocation)
The peace talks made fitful progress, with long delays between meetings.
fitful progress (common collocation)
A fitful wind blew through the old town, gusting one moment and dying the next.
Mateo’s fitful breathing worried the nurse, as it kept stopping and restarting.
The old generator ran with a fitful hum, cutting out every few minutes.
- intermittent
more neutral; simply means happening then stopping, without the uneasy feel
- sporadic
suggests longer gaps and more randomness in timing
- erratic
emphasizes unpredictability and irregular changes in direction or quality
- irregular
broader term; not following a normal pattern
- uneven
suggests lack of consistency in quality, speed, or strength
- steady
happening at a uniform rate without interruption
- continuous
going on without any breaks or pauses
文法句型
fitful + noun
be + fitful
用法筆記
Commonly used with nouns like sleep, breathing, progress, wind, and effort to describe something that starts and stops unpredictably.
常見錯誤
❖ 'The baby had a fitful cry all night.' ✅ 'The baby had a fitful night, waking up often.' — fitful describes the sleep or the night, not the cry itself.