different between fitful vs modifiable

English

Etymology

From fit +? -ful.

Pronunciation

Adjective

fitful (comparative more fitful, superlative most fitful)

1. Irregular; unsteady; characterized by fits.

   His breathing was fitful.

   • 1605, Shakespeare, Macbeth, act III

     […] Duncan is in his grave;

     After life's fitful fever he sleeps well;

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 123

     The cabin lamp—taking long swings this way and that— was burning fitfully, and casting fitful shadows upon the old man’s bolted door [...]

   • 2012, The Economist, The economy: Don’t say “green shoots”

     So fitful has Britain’s economy been that any good news is understandably snatched at.

Synonyms

• intermittent, spasmodic; see also Thesaurus:discontinuous

Derived terms

• fitfully
• fitfulness

Translations

English

Etymology

From French modifiable. Surface etymology is modify +? -able

Adjective

modifiable (comparative more modifiable, superlative most modifiable)

1. Capable of being modified; subject to modification.

Synonyms

• (subject to modification): changeable, editable, mutable

Antonyms

• (subject to modification): unmodifiable

French

Etymology

From modifier +? -able

Adjective

modifiable (plural modifiables)

1. modifiable

Derived terms

• immodifiable
• modifiabilité

Related terms

• modification
  • modificateur
• modifier
• modifieur

Further reading

• “modifiable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).