fidget

Kids call them fidget toys or stress balls.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

When slime, fidget spinners and other tactile toys started catching on, the company looked to create a product that could compete.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

That approach, she said, helped Five Below take advantage of the current craze for “squishy dumplings” — the latest popular fidget toy that the retailer has managed to cash in on.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026

Each doll comes with a pink fidget spinner to reduce stress and improve focus, and noise-cancelling headphones to block out background sounds and therefore limit sensory overload.

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026

So we wait, and I try not to fidget as minutes slide into hours, moving just enough to keep my muscles from stiffening.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

He fidgets with a pair of eyeglasses and points a knobby index finger to underscore a point, jiggles his leg restlessly and, at one point, mimes playing guitar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

As her mother explains how she struggled to keep her alive amid a collapsing health system in Gaza, Niveen, with her big brown eyes and tiny frame, cries and fidgets.

From BBC ● May 20, 2025

In interviews, he fidgets, stumbles over words and gets frustrated if he thinks he has said the wrong thing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2023

In his latest, “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” Cage fidgets and swaggers and smiles so broadly he looks ready to swallow the screen whole.

From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2022

The sneakandle pops on again, and Elsie fidgets with the dials.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

No-one fidgeted or glanced at their smartphones, as Eva explained she had the number A-26959 tattooed in blue ink on her arm.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2025

Students fidgeted in chairs, not knowing what to say.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2023

The teacher turned up the volume of a months-of-the-year song and children were told to settle down on the carpet, but some roamed the classroom; others fidgeted.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2023

And at the matinee I saw, it failed to connect with its audience — or at least the several dozen middle school students in attendance, who napped, whispered, fidgeted and surreptitiously checked phones.

From New York Times ● May 11, 2023

They fidgeted in their seats, subtly adjusting their grips on the oars, shifting their weight, adjusting angles, trying to keep their muscles from knotting up and freezing in place.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Dubois - twitching his shoulders, stretching his neck and constantly fidgeting - insisted the "talking was done", while Wardley rolled his eyes and smiled beside him.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

He sat still for long periods, occasionally fidgeting - but largely impassive and quiet.

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026

In the studio and in meetings, Shulman has the restless energy of a kid—pacing around a room or fidgeting with a piano keyboard or bass guitar—combined with the intellectual affect of a quant.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026

Suspicions were reportedly aroused when a test-taker was seen repeatedly fidgeting with their glasses frames, according to one source briefed on the probe.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024

She was smiling, batting her eyes, and fidgeting with her clunky necklace.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein