restive

Meaning

  1. Impatient under delay, duress, or control.
  2. Resistant to control; stubborn.
  3. Refusing to move, especially in a forward direction.

Hyphenated as
res‧tive
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈɹɛstɪv/
Etymology

In summary

Modification of earlier restiff, from Middle English restyf, from Old French restif, from rester (“stay, remain”), from Latin restō. * Shares an etymology with rest ("remain," obsolete) *Merriam-Webster states that this word was originally used to describe horses that disobeyed commands. Presumably, then, the word came to mean "fidgety" or "anxious" more broadly.

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