different between freakish vs fitful

English

Etymology

freak +? -ish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f?i?k??/

Adjective

freakish (comparative more freakish, superlative most freakish)

1. Resembling a freak.
2. Strange, unusual, abnormal or bizarre.
3. Capricious, unpredictable.

Derived terms

• freakishly
• freakishness

Translations

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