skittered

Moved in bursts

Skittered is the past tense of skitter, meaning to move quickly with light, rapid steps or motions, often erratically or nervously.

Small creatures skitter—mice across floorboards, crabs across sand, leaves across pavement: A lizard skittered under the rock.

The word suggests quickness and a slightly frantic quality.

movement

scurried

Moved with quick, short steps

dashed · skipped · flitted · scrambled · bolted · zipped · whisked · hurried · rushed · sprinted

surface

skimmed

Read superficially

slid · slipped · grazed · glided · scraped · clattered · rattled · pinged · pattered · tapped

creature

spider

Web-spinning arachnid

  • insectSix-legged invertebrate
  • crabPincer-bearing shellfish
  • lizardFour-legged scaled reptile

mouse · cockroach · beetle · centipede · scorpion · crawling · creeping · legs · claws · exoskeleton

nervousness

jittery

Anxiously restless

  • twitchyNervously prone to spasms
  • jumpyNervously reactive to stimuli
  • nervousUneasy and apprehensive

startled · anxious · edgy · flighty · fidgety · spooked · wary · tentative · hesitant · timid

Opposites
movement quality

skitteredlumbered

Moved ponderously and awkwardly

plodded · trudged · stomped · clomped · galumphed

confrontation vs avoidance

skitteredfaced

Met without flinching

confronted · charged · advanced · approached · engaged

Family

skitter, skittering, skitters

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G