From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Restive \Rest"ive\ (r?st"?v), adjective [OF. restif, F. r['e]tif, fr. L. restare to stay back, withstand, resist. See {Rest} remainder, and cf. {Restiff}.] . Unwilling to go on; obstinate in refusing to move forward; stubborn; drawing back.
Restive or resty, drawing back, instead of going forward, as some horses do. --E. Philips (1658).
The people remarked with awe and wonder that the beasts which were to drag him [Abraham Holmes] to the gallows became restive, and went back. --Macaulay.
2. Inactive; sluggish. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.
3. Impatient under coercion, chastisement, or opposition; refractory.
4. Uneasy; restless; averse to standing still; fidgeting about; -- applied especially to horses. --Trench. -- {Rest"ive}, adverb -- {Rest"ive*ness}, noun
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: the anxious feeling you have when you have the jitters [syn: {jitteriness}, {jumpiness}, {nervousness}]
2: characterized by nervousness and quickness to take fright [syn: {skittishness}]
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