Feverish

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈfiː.və.ɹɪʃ/

Definitions

1. Characterized by an elevated body temperature, restlessness, or intense and hurried activity
2. showing high body temperature and physical agitation, or marked by frantic haste and excited intensity
3. accompanied by elevated temperature and rapid bodily movements, or driven by hurried and passionate urgency

Etymology: Fever comes from Old English "fefor," which in turn traces back through Latin "febris," but "feverish" is a plainer story: it is simply "fever" with the suffix "-ish" attached. That suffix comes from Old English "-isc," which meant "of the nature of" or "belonging to," as in "Englisc" for English things and people. Over the centuries it became a general-purpose ending for adjectives that describe something as having a quality or resembling something else, so "reddish" is "like red" and "childish" is "like a child." Applied to fever, the suffix gave English a way to describe not only someone who has a fever but someone behaving as if they had one. The shift from body temperature to restless, frantic activity follows naturally, since a fevered person is often agitated, flushed and unable to settle. The adjective therefore covers both the medical sense and the figurative one of hurried, intense energy.

Synonyms: agitated, excitable, restless

Antonyms: calm, composed