1
as in excitable
easily excited by nature
the skittish colt leapt up when we approached
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in timid
easily frightened
the cat is skittish around people she doesn't know
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3
as in volatile
likely to change frequently, suddenly, or unexpectedly
a skittish housing market had both buyers and sellers on edge
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of skittish
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the VIX, rose, and the broader market also tumbled: The Nasdaq Composite ended the day with a loss of 3.3% as tech investors became skittish over AI darling Nvidia’s 9% plunge.
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Lucy Bayly, CNN, 3 Sep. 2024
The two tried to get out as quickly as possible, but their skittish cat, CatMandu, was zooming around their Paradise home.
—Evan Bush, NBC News, 11 Aug. 2024
Yet the proposition that the United States should risk getting enmeshed in a war on Russia’s doorstep to soothe its skittish NATO states makes no sense.
—Rajan Menon, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2017
State of play: Prospective buyers are finally feeling less skittish, Utah realtors told Axios.
—Erin Alberty, Axios, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for skittish 
Lucy Bayly, CNN, 3 Sep. 2024
The two tried to get out as quickly as possible, but their skittish cat, CatMandu, was zooming around their Paradise home.
—Evan Bush, NBC News, 11 Aug. 2024
Yet the proposition that the United States should risk getting enmeshed in a war on Russia’s doorstep to soothe its skittish NATO states makes no sense.
—Rajan Menon, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2017
State of play: Prospective buyers are finally feeling less skittish, Utah realtors told Axios.
—Erin Alberty, Axios, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for skittish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skittish
Adjective
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Lucy, over-the-top housewife Lucy and Ricky, her excitable husband, were always getting into some sort of entertaining hijinks.Michael Gioia, Architectural Digest, 26 Sep. 2024
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In the first verse, the drums march stiffly, while the bass is excitable like the cad Khan targets, popping rudely and bounding showily into the chorus.Elias Leight, Billboard, 4 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The video, which has been viewed more than 1.4 million times to date, shows the golden retriever offering the timid stray their favorite toy.Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024
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Black bears are generally timid and more likely to avoid humans, while grizzly bears are known to be more territorial and larger in size.Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Over the past four years, Bitcoin has been extremely volatile, as shown by the 2022 collapse of the crypto giant FTX.Deena Zaidi, Quartz, 13 Nov. 2024
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By investing in these areas now, businesses are laying the groundwork for long-term success in an increasingly volatile and complex global environment beyond today’s election.Cheryl Robinson, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Bucks that seem alert and nervous — look for twitchy ears and a constantly bobbing head — are more likely to detect you movement and are also more likely to duck arrows.Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 6 Nov. 2024
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That’s why Trump, who closely follows the stock market and obsessed over it as president, should be nervous about the recent trend on Wall Street.Matt Egan, CNN, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The collapse of social and economic order in Myanmar is watched carefully by its neighbors, fearful that instability will spill over.Koh Ewe, TIME, 1 Nov. 2024
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The research provides a counterbalance to the rhetoric that employees are fearful of new AI tools replacing them and keen not to see their employers adopt the technology.Alena Botros, Fortune Europe, 1 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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But Bird belongs to Bailey, and to first-timer Adams, who does a winning job of being unpredictable herself, even if the film would be better off delving deeper into one of the relationships in her life rather than dipping into all of them in turn.Alison Willmore, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024
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Combined with worries over increasing predator numbers and unpredictable winters, these circumstances had led managers to cut moose tags by more than 50 percent, the study’s authors explain.Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 6 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near skittish
Cite this Entry
“Skittish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skittish. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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