How to Use jitterbug in a Sentence

jitterbug

1 of 2 noun
  • Dance the jitterbug, swing a partner and do the lindy hop with live music all night.
    — Alaska Dispatch News, 3 Nov. 2017
  • Twist, jitterbug, cha-cha, lindy hop and more to the sounds of The Mystics.
    — The Courier-Journal, 21 June 2017
  • Local dance event Get Hep Swing will be on hand to teach you the jitterbug.
    — cleveland.com, 3 Aug. 2017
  • First-date jitterbugs come in a wide swatch of colors, ranging from extremely vibrant to very, very dull.
    — Rachel Van Nes, The New Yorker, 12 Feb. 2020
  • There’s the famous final shot of Stroszek, in which a chicken jitterbugs to a rousing blues track.
    — Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 24 Nov. 2022
  • The event will feature 1950s drive-in style food and dance contests that include the twist and jitterbug.
    — Steve Sadin, chicagotribune.com, 12 July 2018
  • In the Tigers’ huddle, coach Norm Stewart’s plan was to disrupt the jitterbug point guard.
    — Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2023
  • The jitterbug point guard out of Kentucky has assumed a prominent place on a rebuilding team as a raw 20-year-old.
    — Michael Singer, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2018
  • The most complicated headpieces to make, according to Gee, were the poppies and the jitterbugs.
    — Kansas City Star, 4 May 2026
  • His variation of the jitterbug appealed to white kids who were forbidden to enter black clubs, Cavallo said.
    — Ben Crandell, sun-sentinel.com, 3 Dec. 2019
  • Okorie is the best driving guard in the class, a 6-1 jitterbug who manipulates defenders with a tight handle, sudden changes of speed, and an advanced feel for the game.
    — Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 16 June 2026
  • Our generation regards political parties as a relic of an era of black-and-white television, transatlantic ocean-liners and the jitterbug.
    — The Economist, 1 Nov. 2019
  • Andy Blankenbuehler’s Tony Award-winning choreography is inspired by everything from jazz to jitterbug to to hip-hop to ballet.
    — Mary Carole McCauley, baltimoresun.com, 21 June 2019
  • Checker explained that before The Twist was popular, people danced touching each other, for example doing the jitterbug or the waltz.
    — Sheryl Devore, Lake County News-Sun, 19 Dec. 2017
  • When teens danced the Charleston or the jitterbug in the first half of the 20th century, a big band that often featured five saxophones, four trumpets and four trombones supplied the back beat.
    — Tom Roland, Billboard, 12 Oct. 2017
  • Incredibly catchy, these dances use the rhythms and energy of jazz music in numerous styles, including the jitterbug, Lindy Hop, and Charleston.
    — Caroline Rogers, Southern Living, 1 May 2017
  • The studio tailored lessons for students ages 30 to 90 and offered classes on dances not taught in American-style studios, such as the Taiwanese jitterbug.
    — Joanna Slater, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2023
  • Both the jitterbug and Lindy Hop (which is often referred to as the granddaddy of the swing era dances) are lively, energetic swing dances that involve quick spins, sharp footwork and pure joy between a pair to a booming live band playing.
    — Alexa Stone updated October 21, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2025
  • As freshmen last season, Jackson and Mike Sainristil flashed their physical talents, displaying elusiveness and jitterbug-type quickness.
    — Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press, 28 Sep. 2020
  • The dance and vocal arrangements by Peter Howard were especially enjoyable here, as numerous glowing, colorful jitterbugs interfered with the quartet’s journey in an attempt to fatigue them.
    — Elizabeth Marie Himchak, Pomerado News, 17 July 2019
  • The ballroom-style dance is believed to have evolved from the jitterbug and the Lindy Hop dances of the famous Big Band years — also called the swing era — that peaked from the early 1930s to late 1940s.
    — Alexa Stone updated October 21, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2025

jitterbug

2 of 2 verb
  • Vin Knight is affecting as Leopold Bloom, an anxious outsider in his city, his subconscious, and his leaky body; Scott Shepherd plays multiple roles, but is particularly droll as Blazes Boylan, jitterbugging hornily through Dublin.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026

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

Last Updated: