Restless, a.
Etymology: [AS. restleás.]
1. Never resting; unquiet; uneasy; continually moving; as, a restless child. Chaucer. "Restless revolution day by day." Milton.
2. Not satisfied to be at rest or in peace; averse to repose or quiet; eager for change; discontented; as, restless schemers; restless ambition; restless subjects. "Restless at home , and ever prone to range." Dryden.
3. Deprived of rest or sleep. Restless he passed the remnants of the night. Dryden.
4. Passed in unquietness; as, the patient has had a restless night.
2 more senses
5. Not affording rest; as, a restless chair. Cowper. Restless thrush. (Zoöl.) See Grinder, 3.
Syn. -- Unquiet; uneasy; disturbed; disquieted; sleepless; agitated; unsettled; roving; wandering. -- Rest"less*ly, adv.- Rest"less*ness, n.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for restless; he lists it under active, restive.
Where he writes about it:
The restless are active from inability to keep quiet; their activity may be without purpose, or out of all proportion to the purpose contemplated. — from active
Dryden speaks of "the pampered colt" as "restiff to the rein;" but the rein is not used to propel a horse forward, but to hold him in, and it is against this that he is "restiff." A horse may be made restless by flies or by martial music, but with no refractoriness; the restive animal impatiently resists or struggles to break from control, as by bolting, flinging his rider, or otherwise. — from restive