Antsy

//ˈæn.tsi// adj, slang

adj, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Restless, apprehensive and fidgety. slang

    "The children were antsy and worried […]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    nervous and unable to relax wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
anxiousbreathlesseageredgyexcitedfidgety

Example

More examples

"Tom said that he was getting antsy."

Etymology

From ants + -y, as in ants in one's pants. First noted as a rural Southern USA figure of speech in the early 20th century.

Related phrases

ants in one's pantshave ants in one's pants

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