jitterbug
jitterbug Lexical Profile
jitterbug Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A fast, energetic American popular dance performed to swing music, characterized by acrobatic twirls and leaps, which became widely popular in the 1930s and 1940s.
"My grandparents won a local contest in the 1940s for their lively performance of the jitterbug."
A person who performs the jitterbug dance or is an enthusiastic devotee of swing music.
"The ballroom was packed with young jitterbugs eager to hear the big band play."
An extremely nervous, fidgety, or excitable person.
"Trying to sit still in the waiting room turned him into a complete jitterbug."
• verb
To dance the jitterbug.
"Couples jitterbugged across the gymnasium floor until the band played its final song."
• Rhymes for jitterbug
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in American jazz slang in the early 1930s and popularized by bandleader Cab Calloway's 1934 song "Call of the Jitter Bug," combining "jitters" (nervous shakes) with "bug" (an enthusiast).