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restless

adjective

Simple meaning

Unable to stay still or relax.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

rehstluhs

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɹɛstləs

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Without rest; unable to be still or quiet; uneasy; continually moving.

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

  3. Lacking or not affording physical or mental rest

  4. Not allowing or affording rest.

  5. Deprived of rest or sleep.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Without rest; unable to be still or quiet; uneasy; continually moving.

Used this way, restless is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use restless

  • “He felt restless and couldn't sit still, wanting to go outside and play.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

restless legsrestless spiritrestless nightrestless energyrestless activityrestless mindrestless eyesrestless desire

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • restfuladjectiveDerived adjective

    Affording physical or mental rest.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • restless legsnounCompound term

    Feeling of uneasiness and restlessness in the legs after going to bed (sometimes causing insomnia).

  • restless legs syndromenounCompound term

    Feeling of uneasiness and restlessness in the legs after going to bed (sometimes causing insomnia).

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: without rest

unquiet

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.