tetchy
Synonym of touchy: easily annoyed or irritated, peevish, testy, irascibleSynonym of touchy: easily annoyed or irritated, peevish, testy, irascible; also (figurative) extremely sensitive, difficult to manage, use, or work.
Recorded UK: Speaker: Vealhurl Recorder: Vealhurl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Meaning
1 senses(Commonwealth, Ireland, Southern US, UK)Synonym of touchy: easily annoyed or irritated, peevish, testy, irascible; also (figurative) extremely sensitive, difficult to manage, use, or work.
easily irritated or annoyed
Examples
3 sentencesHe is tetchy.
deEr ist unleidlich. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
He's very tetchy.
deEr ist sehr launenhaft. — brauchinet
But she soon grew weary of that occupation; she became careless in her reports, impatient and tetchy when reprimanded for her negligence.
Origin
Uncertain, first attested as teachie in the 1597 first quarto versions of Romeo and JulietUncertain, first attested as teachie in the 1597 first quarto versions of Romeo and Juliet and Richard III. Perhaps coined by Shakespeare.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
tetchier, tetchiestSynonyms
12 synonymsWord family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.