English Explanatory Dictionary

agitate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

To disturb or excite; to perturb or stir up (a person).
To cause to move with a violent, irregular action; to shake.
To participate in political agitation (sense 3).
To set in motion; to actuate.
To discuss or debate.
To mull over, or think deeply about; to consider, to devise.

Pronunciation

/ˈæ.d͡ʒɪ.teɪt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-agitate.wav

Word forms

agitate agitates agitating agitated

Etymology

From Middle English agitat(e) (“set in motion”), borrowed from Latin agitātus, perfect passive participle of agitō (“to put in motion”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), frequentative of agō (“to drive, move, push”), see -tō. Cognate with French agiter. See also act and agent.

Synonyms

disturb unsettle agitate freak bother bring down discompose disconcert enturbulate mortify perturb put out ruffle throw off balance upset flurry move muddle roil shake activate animate excite trigger rouse set off discuss debate canvass revolve ruminate afterthink bethink call to mind chew chew over chew the cud cogitate consider contemplate deliberate introspect mull mull over muse overthink ponder meditate quander reflect rethink reconsider second-guess think think over

Antonyms

appease calm quieten

Related words

agitable agitant agitatee agitation agitational agitative agitator agitatory agitatrix inagitable

Derived words

agitate the communicator circumagitate counteragitate overagitate reagitate

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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