restless

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *rastō

Proto-West Germanic *rastu

Old English ræst

Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der.

Proto-Germanic *leusaną

Proto-Germanic *lausaz

Proto-Germanic *-lausaz

Proto-West Germanic *-laus

Old English -lēas

Old English ræstlēas

Middle English restles

English restless

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)

1. Not allowing or affording rest.

   The night before his wedding was a restless one.

2. 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.

3. Not satisfied to be at rest or in peace; averse to repose; eager for change; discontented.

   A restless ambition.

4. Deprived of rest or sleep.

   They remained restless, sitting by the window the entire night.

Derived terms

• restless cavy
• restless flycatcher
• restless genital syndrome
• restless legs
• restless legs syndrome
• restless leg syndrome
• restlessly
• restlessness
• the natives are getting restless
• the natives are restless

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)
• Hindi: चंचल (hi) (cañcal)
• Hungarian: nyugtalan (hu)
• Italian: instancabile (it)
• Māori: 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)
• French: agité (fr)
• German: unruhig (de), rastlos (de)
• Greek: ανήσυχος (el) (anísychos)
• Hebrew: חֲסַר מָנוֹחַ m (ẖasár manóaẖ)
• Hindi: चंचल (hi) (cañcal)
• Ingrian: raisu
• Irish: luaineach, aistreach
• Italian: irrequieto (it)
• Latin: inquiēs
• Māori: 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
• Māori: taoi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rastløs (no)

• Polish: niezaspokojony
• Portuguese: incansável (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: siùbhlach, an-fhoiseil

deprived of rest or sleep

• Catalan: desvetllat (ca)
• 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.

Further reading

• restless on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Tesslers, tressels