'Restiveness' definitions:
Definition of 'restiveness'
From: WordNet
noun
The anxious feeling you have when you have the jitters [syn: jitteriness, jumpiness, nervousness, restiveness]
noun
Characterized by nervousness and quickness to take fright [syn: skittishness, restiveness]
Definition of 'Restiveness'
From: GCIDE
- Restive \Rest"ive\ (r?st"?v), a. [OF. restif, F. r['e]tif, fr. L. restare to stay back, withstand, resist. See Rest remainder, and cf. Restiff.] . Unwilling to go on; obstinate in refusing to move forward; stubborn; drawing back. [1913 Webster]
- Restive or resty, drawing back, instead of going forward, as some horses do. --E. Philips (1658). [1913 Webster]
- The people remarked with awe and wonder that the beasts which were to drag him [Abraham Holmes] to the gallows became restive, and went back. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Inactive; sluggish. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Impatient under coercion, chastisement, or opposition; refractory. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Uneasy; restless; averse to standing still; fidgeting about; -- applied especially to horses. --Trench. [1913 Webster] -- {Rest"ive}, adv. -- {Rest"ive*ness}, n. [1913 Webster]