How to Use fitful in a Sentence

fitful

adjective
  • He had a few fitful hours of sleep.
  • Several fitful attempts at negotiation have failed.
  • The third-round pick has had a fitful start to his Ravens career.
    — Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 29 Oct. 2021
  • The stakes seem to increase with every fitful change of heart.
    — Ronald Radosh, The New Republic, 5 May 2021
  • But, a few minutes into the journey, the train came to a fitful stop.
    — Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 15 June 2025
  • The sound of tide beating on the green marble of the seabed, fitful but constant.
    — Antonia Quirke, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 May 2022
  • The pace of change here is fitful, and that has not changed during this pandemic.
    — Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2021
  • Her daughter had fitful nights sleeping.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 23 Dec. 2025
  • That went missing much of last year in the midst of a fitful pandemic season.
    — Doug Lesmerises, cleveland, 2 Oct. 2021
  • He got used to a few hours of fitful sleep each night, the 63-year-old said Friday.
    — Robin Erb, Detroit Free Press, 1 Mar. 2021
  • The ping of a voicemail message woke Meyers from a fitful sleep.
    — Jeffrey E. Stern, The Atlantic, 30 Aug. 2021
  • For many decades, the advance of gay rights in America was slow and fitful.
    — Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker, 24 May 2021
  • Walkers never have to lug their own suitcases or spend a fitful night on the cold, hard ground.
    — Shoshi Parks, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Oct. 2024
  • There were fitful signs that Democrats were trying to turn the page on Friday.
    — Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 29 June 2024
  • Their father may be a fitful presence at home, but his work already has them under its spell.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2025
  • Retail sales have proven fitful, recovering and ebbing with waves of the virus.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 28 Oct. 2021
  • Retail sales have proven fitful, recovering and ebbing with waves of the virus.
    — New York Times, 27 Oct. 2021
  • The next morning, after a few hours of fitful, fretful sleep, the women went through the events again.
    — New York Times, 7 Dec. 2021
  • Does a character need to have fitful visions of the future after a snakebite?
    — Abhrajyoti Chakraborty, The New Republic, 8 Oct. 2019
  • The angel who had appeared to him in his fitful dreams had, unbeknownst to him, never left his side.
    — Joshua Hammer, GQ, 26 July 2017
  • The subway’s recovery from the pandemic has been fitful, a tale of stops and starts.
    — Keith Gessen, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2025
  • Such a staggered and fitful reopening will bring with it a slow recovery.
    — Ashoka Mody, National Review, 29 Apr. 2020
  • The result was a fitful flightpath that varied depending on the ball's spin rate and the speed at which it was kicked.
    — Robbie Gonzalez, WIRED, 15 June 2018
  • But progress was fitful, and fear of infection still loomed, keeping many from venturing out again.
    — New York Times, 19 Sep. 2021
  • After a few years of fitful growth, the Coop was having trouble keeping the store running.
    — The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025
  • North Korea is on the cusp of the largest step yet in its budding, fitful engagement with the outside world.
    — Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2017
  • That night at the bus stop, Fong collapsed into a fitful sleep, his heart strained by the punishing heat of summer in the desert.
    — Fernanda Santos, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2020
  • The window was usually propped open, and, when the music was off, the buzz of distant traffic and a fitful breeze entered.
    — Daisy Hildyard, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2024
  • The fitful nature of the post-pandemic climb could be seen from Israel to India.
    — Arkansas Online, 3 July 2022
  • The fitful nature of the post-pandemic climb could be seen from Israel to India.
    — Laurie Kellman, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 July 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fitful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: