noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The act of agitating, or the state of being agitated; the state of being disrupted with violence, or with irregular action; commotion. countable, uncountable

   "During a storm the sea is in agitation."

2. 2
   the act of agitating something; causing it to move around (usually vigorously) wordnet
3. 3
   A disturbance of personal tranquillity; disturbance of someone's peace of mind. countable, uncountable

   "She causes great agitation within me."

4. 4
   disturbance usually in protest wordnet
5. 5
   Excitement of public feeling by discussion, appeals, etc. countable, uncountable

   "the antislavery agitation"

Show 5 more definitions

6. 6
   the feeling of being agitated; not calm wordnet
7. 7
   Examination or consideration of a subject in controversy, or of a plan proposed for adoption; earnest discussion; debate. archaic, countable, uncountable

   "[…] a logical agitation of the matter […]"

8. 8
   a state of agitation or turbulent change or development wordnet
9. 9
   Putting into motion by shaking or stirring, often to achieve mixing. countable, uncountable
10. 10
    a mental state of extreme emotional disturbance wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

excitementperturbationadoaggravationall oversall-overs

Antonyms

All antonyms

calmness

Example

More examples

"He sat down to recover from his agitation."

Etymology

From French agitation, from Latin agitātiō (“movement, agitation”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.