testy

adjective

tes·​ty ˈte-stē 

testier; testiest

1

: easily annoyed : irritable

2

: marked by impatience or ill humor

testy remarks

testily

ˈte-stə-lē 

adverb

testiness

ˈte-stē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• choleric
• crabby
• cranky
• cross
• crotchety
• fiery
• grouchy
• grumpy
• irascible
• irritable
• peevish
• perverse
• pettish
• petulant
• prickly
• quick-tempered
• raspy
• ratty
• short-tempered
• snappish
• snappy
• snarky
• snippety
• snippy
• stuffy
• waspish

Examples of testy in a Sentence

that coworker would be easier to get along with if she weren't so testy all the time

Recent Examples on the Web

Fans of America's No. 1 show are well aware of the testy battles between Costner, who has played the lead character John Dutton on the neo-Western series since its 2018 premiere, and creator and executive producer Taylor Sheridan. —Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 25 Nov. 2024

Both of those unions have held their own strikes amid testy contract negotiations in the past few years. —Sara Fischer, Axios, 4 Nov. 2024

Alec Baldwin returned to Saturday Night Live as Fox News anchor Bret Baier during the show’s cold open, which spoofed the testy interview with Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph). —Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Oct. 2024

Fox anchor Bret Baier confronted Harris about the Biden administration’s decision to repeal Trump-era border policies, in what amounted to testy exchanges between the two. —Alexandra Banner, CNN, 17 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English testif, from Anglo-French, headstrong, from teste head — more at tester entry 2

First Known Use

1523, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

testy

adjective

tes·​ty ˈtes-tē 

testier; testiest

: easily annoyed : irritable

testily

-tə-lē 

adverb

testiness

-tē-nəs 

noun