jumpy

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English jump

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English jumpy

From jump + -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒʌmpi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌmpi

Adjective

jumpy (comparative jumpier, superlative jumpiest)

1. Nervous and excited.
   • 1927 March 5, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place”, in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, published June 1927, →OCLC, page 281:

     It was the butler who saw him go. Twelve o'clock at night and raining hard. So next night I was up at the house and, sure enough, master was off again. Stephens and I went after him, but it was jumpy work, for it would have been a bad job if he had seen us.

   • 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:

     "I wish it was well over," admitted Hollyer. "I'm not particularly jumpy, but this gives me a touch of the creeps."

2. Tending to jump; full of jumps.

   Near-synonym: saltatory

   • 2018, Candice Gilmer, Ending The Curse:

     We moved at a good clip, so I reached up to pull shut the window coverings, just in case this jumpy frog decided to escape.

   • 2022, Maurice Renard, New Bodies for Old:

     Meanwhile, the car pursued its jumpy course, and I could not prevent myself laughing.

Derived terms

• jumpily
• jumpiness

Translations

nervous and excited

• Bulgarian: нервен (bg) (nerven), неспокоен (bg) (nespokoen)
• Danish: nervøs
• Dutch: nerveus (nl), nerveuze (nl), zenuwachtig (nl), zenuwachtige (nl)
• Finnish: hermostunut (fi)
• French: nerveux (fr)
• Georgian: გულფიცხი (gulpicxi), ნერვული (nervuli)
• German: nervös (de)
• Japanese: ビクビク (びくびく, bikubiku), ビクッ (bikū)
• Latin: trepidus
• Spanish: nervioso (es), asustadizo (es)
• Unami: sàlàxsi

Chinese

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from jumpy (“tending to jump”).

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zam¹ pi⁴

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zam¹ pi⁴
    • Yale: jām pìh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzam¹ pi⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: zem¹ pi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɐm⁵⁵ pʰiː²¹/

Adjective

jumpy

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) tending to switch between jobs frequently
   • 2017 May 23, “匿名搵工平台 助「被動人才」覓錢途”, in 香港經濟日報‎^[1]:

     新生代被老闆指太「jumpy」（經常轉工），上一代渴望打長工、求穩定，但過於安於現狀，或錯失轉好工的機會。 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
     新生代被老板指太「jumpy」（经常转工），上一代渴望打长工、求稳定，但过于安于现状，或错失转好工的机会。 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]

     san¹ sang¹ doi⁶ bei⁶ lou⁵ baan² zi² taai³ “zam¹ pi⁴” (ging¹ soeng⁴ zyun³ gung¹), soeng⁶ jat¹ doi⁶ hot³ mong⁶ daa² coeng⁴ gung¹, kau⁴ wan² ding⁶, daan⁶ gwo³ jyu¹ on¹ jyu¹ jin⁶ zong⁶, waak⁶ co³ sat¹ zyun³ hou² gung¹ dik¹ gei¹ wui⁶. [Jyutping]

     The new generation is described by bosses as too “jumpy” (frequently switching jobs); the previous generation desires to have a long and stable job, but being too content with the status quo may cost them the opportunity to get a better job.