jumpy

From jump +‎ -y.

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒʌmpi/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ʌmpi

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, London: John Murray, […], published June 1927 (May 1952 printing), →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. […] .”

2. Tending to jump; full of jumps.
   • 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.

• jumpily
• jumpiness

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from jump +‎ -y.

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‎:

     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。

     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.