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fitful

 [fit-fuhl]   Origin

fit·ful

   [fit-fuhl]
adjective
coming, appearing, acting, etc., in fits or by spells; recurring irregularly.
Origin:
1595–1605; fit2 + -ful

Related forms
fit·ful·ly, adverb
fit·ful·ness, noun

Synonyms
sporadic, intermittent, erratic, haphazard.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Fitful is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
fitful (ˈfɪtfʊl)
 
—adj
characterized by or occurring in irregular spells: fitful sleep
 
'fitfully
 
—adv
 
'fitfulness
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

fitful
used once by Shakespeare ("Macbeth" iii.2) in sense of "characterized by fits," then revived by Scott (1810) with a sense of "shifting, changing." From fit (n.2) + -ful. Related: Fitfully.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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