Restlessness is that fidgety, unsettled feeling when you can't sit still or focus because something inside you wants to move, change, or do something different. When you're restless, you might tap your pencil, shift in your seat, or feel like the walls are closing in. You know you should be doing your homework, but your mind keeps wandering to other things.

Restlessness often strikes when you're bored, anxious, or cooped up too long. After a week of rain, kids can feel restless and desperate to get outside. During a long car ride, that squirmy, impatient feeling is restlessness. Sometimes it happens when you're excited about something coming up, like feeling restless the night before a big trip.

The word can also describe a deeper kind of dissatisfaction. A restless person might constantly seek new experiences or feel unsatisfied with routine. Explorers and inventors throughout history were restless spirits who couldn't accept things as they were. That same restlessness drove people to cross oceans, build new machines, and make discoveries.

Physical restlessness usually goes away once you move around or the boring situation ends. But that deeper restlessness, the kind that makes people dream big and try new things, can fuel a lifetime of curiosity and achievement.