Agitation is the state of being physically or emotionally stirred up, often involving excitement, anger, or turbulence. It can refer to a medical condition involving restlessness or the act of shaking or mixing substances. In everyday use, it denotes heightened emotion or disturbance that disrupts calm or order.
"The crowd's agitation grew as the debate heated up."
"She felt a surge of agitation before giving her presentation."
"The nurse monitored his agitation to ensure it didn't escalate into distress."
"Industrial agitation is used to evenly mix chemicals in the solution."
Agitation derives from the Latin agitatio(n-), from agitare meaning to set in motion, stir up, or drive. The root verb agitare combines ag- (toward, in motion) with -agitare (to drive, to chase). In Late Latin, agitatio referred to stirring up, movement, or incitement; in Medieval Latin, it broadened to the emotional or physical state of being excited or disturbed. Old English and other Germanic languages contributed later via scientific and medical terminology, with agitation entering medical and general English in the 17th–18th centuries to describe restlessness or a disturbed mental state. By the 19th century, agitation was common in psychology and pharmacology to describe neurophysiological arousal, while in general usage it retained both emotional and mechanical senses. Today, agitation can describe patient restlessness in clinical settings, social unrest, or the act of stirring a mixture; its meaning requires contextual cues to distinguish emotion from physical stirring or chemical processing. The word’s evolution reflects expanding domains of use—from everyday agitation of feelings to specialized medical and industrial contexts—while retaining an overarching sense of motion or arousal.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Agitation" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Agitation"
-ion sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Pronounce as /ˌædʒɪˈteɪʃən/. The primary stress lands on the second syllable - tei - as in a-JAY-shən. Start with a light, quick /æ/ as in cat, then /dʒ/ as in judge, followed by a clear /ɪ/ or schwa in the third syllable, then /ˈteɪ/ with the long a as in play, and finish with /ʃən/ like shun. Listen for the unstressed initial syllables and a crisp, stress-led second syllable.
Common errors include misplacing the stress (putting emphasis on the first syllable a-GI-ta-tion is uncommon), confusing the /dʒ/ cluster with /d/ or /j/, and shortening the final /ən/ to /n/. To correct: keep the primary stress on the second syllable /ˈteɪ/; ensure /dʒ/ is a single palatal affricate; end with a gentle, relaxed /ən/ rather than a full /ən/ like in 'nation'.
In US English, you’ll hear /ˌædʒɪˈteɪʃən/ with less rhotic emphasis and a clear /ɪ/ before /ˈteɪ/. UK English maintains similar placement but a possibly shorter /ə/ in the second unstressed syllable and a crisper /t/; AU often features vowel quality shifts with a slightly more centralized /ə/ in the first unstressed vowel and a tuned /æ/ depending on speaker, but the core stress on /ˈteɪ/ remains constant.
Key challenges: the /dʒ/ cluster is a single affricate that blends with adjacent vowels, requiring precise tongue-jaw coordination; the secondary stress is on the penultimate syllable, so you must keep flow through the first two syllables; the final /ən/ can verge toward a syllabic /n/ when spoken quickly; maintaining even rhythm across 3 syllables without reducing the second syllable too much is crucial.
No silent letters. Every syllable carries a sound: /æ/ in the first, /dʒ/ as a single sound, /ɪ/ or /ɪ/ before the long /eɪ/ in the second, /ʃ/ in the penultimate, and a voiced or voiceless schwa in the final syllable depending on pace. The challenge is not silent letters but accurate consonant-vowel timing and stress.
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