aflutter
aflutter Lexical Profile
aflutter Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Nervously excited, agitated, or quivering with anticipation.
"Her heart was aflutter as she waited backstage for the concert to begin."
Moving or waving rapidly and lightly in the air; fluttering.
"The avenue was lined with colourful banners all aflutter in the morning breeze."
• adverb
In a fluttering, agitated, or nervously excited manner or state.
"The sudden announcement set the entire office aflutter with speculation."
Word Nuance & Usage
Like other adjectives formed with the prefix 'a-' (such as 'asleep' or 'afloat'), 'aflutter' is used strictly as a predicate adjective following a linking verb or postpositively after a noun, never directly before a noun.
• Rhymes for aflutter
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the 19th century by combining the prefix 'a-' (reduced from the Old English preposition 'on', meaning 'in a state of') with 'flutter', which derives from the Old English verb 'floterian' ('to float back and forth' or 'flap the wings').