Search Result for "restive": 
Wordnet 3.0

ADJECTIVE (2)

1. being in a tense state;
[syn: edgy, high-strung, highly strung, jittery, jumpy, nervy, overstrung, restive, uptight]

2. impatient especially under restriction or delay;
- Example: "the government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive"


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Restive \Rest"ive\ (r?st"?v), a. [OF. restif, F. r['e]tif, fr. L. restare to stay back, withstand, resist. See Rest remainder, and cf. Restiff.] . Unwilling to go on; obstinate in refusing to move forward; stubborn; drawing back. [1913 Webster] Restive or resty, drawing back, instead of going forward, as some horses do. --E. Philips (1658). [1913 Webster] The people remarked with awe and wonder that the beasts which were to drag him [Abraham Holmes] to the gallows became restive, and went back. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] 2. Inactive; sluggish. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster] 3. Impatient under coercion, chastisement, or opposition; refractory. [1913 Webster] 4. Uneasy; restless; averse to standing still; fidgeting about; -- applied especially to horses. --Trench. [1913 Webster] -- Rest"ive, adv. -- Rest"ive*ness, n. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

restive adj 1: being in a tense state [syn: edgy, high-strung, highly strung, jittery, jumpy, nervy, overstrung, restive, uptight] 2: impatient especially under restriction or delay; "the government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

151 Moby Thesaurus words for "restive": antsy, antsy-pantsy, anxious, apathetic, backward, balking, balky, beefing, bellyaching, beyond control, bigoted, bitching, breachy, breathless, bulldogged, bulletheaded, bullheaded, case-hardened, chafing, complaining, complaintful, contumacious, crabbing, crabby, cranky, croaking, cross-grained, defiant, dilatory, disappointed, discontented, disgruntled, displeased, dissatisfied, dogged, dogmatic, eager, edgy, envious, excited, fanatic, faultfinding, fidgety, fluttery, fractious, fretful, fretting, froward, fussy, griping, grouchy, grousing, growling, grudging, grumbling, hardheaded, hasty, headstrong, hopped-up, impatient, impatient of control, impetuous, in a lather, in a stew, in a sweat, incorrigible, indifferent, indocile, indomitable, insuppressible, intolerant, intractable, irrepressible, laggard, loath, malcontent, malcontented, mulish, murmuring, muttering, nervy, obstinate, obstreperous, on edge, opinionated, ornery, out of hand, out of humor, overzealous, peevish, perfunctory, persevering, pertinacious, perverse, petulant, pigheaded, querulant, querulous, rebellious, recalcitrant, refractory, reluctant, renitent, resentful, resistant, resisting, restless, self-willed, set, shrewish, slow, slow to, squirming, squirmy, stiff-necked, strong-willed, strongheaded, stubborn, sulky, sullen, tenacious, tense, unaccepting, unaccommodating, unbiddable, uncontrollable, uncooperative, uneasy, unenthusiastic, unfulfilled, ungovernable, ungratified, unhappy, unmalleable, unmanageable, unmoldable, unpatient, unquiet, unregenerate, unrestful, unruly, unsatisfied, unsettled, unsubmissive, unzealous, uptight, wayward, whiny, wild, willful, wrongheaded