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Judging by its spelling and meaning, you might think that agita is simply a shortened version of agitation, but that's not the case. Both agitation and the verb it comes from, agitate, derive from Latin agere, meaning "to drive." Agita, which first appeared in American English in the mid-late 20th century, comes from a dialectical pronunciation of the Italian word acido, meaning "heartburn" or "acid," from Latin acidus. (Agita is also occasionally used in English with the meaning "heartburn.") For a while the word's usage was limited to New York City and surrounding regions, but the word became more widespread in the mid-1990s.
Synonyms
Examples of agita in a Sentence
Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 29 Nov. 2024
The radical restructuring of Disney’s network and studio operations that Chapek subsequently implemented also created a lot of internal agita and speed bumps.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 26 Nov. 2024
In addition to isolated catalysts like the McDonald’s foodborne illness agita and an analyst report pointing to lighter-than-hoped sales for Apple’s iPhone 16, there was a familiar foe behind much of the losses: climbing Treasury yields.
—Derek Saul, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024
And in both cases, the shows are elevated by the surprising warmth and earnestness lurking under the unfurling agita.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 July 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near agita
Cite this Entry
“Agita.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/agita. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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