swivet

n. Informal
Extreme distress or discomposure.

[Origin unknown.]

(SWIV-it)

noun
A state of anxiety, discomposure or agitation; tizzy. (Usually used in the phrase "in a swivet".)

Etymology
Of unknown origin.

Usage
"Scientists were in a swivet last month when they learned that Butterfields, a San Francisco-based auction house, was putting the 200-million-year-old fossil, a glider with the wingspan of a large dragonfly, up for sale." — Happy Landings for Flying Fossil; Science (Washington, DC); Sep 8, 2000.

"Filmmakers are in another swivet over high costs in New York City and prohibitive rules." — Liz Smith; Hoffman the Perfectionist is Hard at Work on `Billy Bathgate'; Orange County Register (Santa Ana, California); Nov 26, 1990.

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noun

A condition of excited distress: fume. Informal snit, state, sweat. Slang tizzy. See calm/agitation.

a state of extreme agitation: tizzy