tetchy

adjective

ˈte-chē

tetchier; tetchiest

Synonyms of tetchy next

: irritably or peevishly sensitive : touchy

the tetchy manner of two women living in the same house—

Elizabeth Taylor †1975

tetchily

ˈte-chə-lē

adverb

tetchiness

ˈte-chē-nəs

noun

Did you know?

One of the first cited uses of tetchy occurs in William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (1596). Etymologists are not certain how the word came about, but some have suggested that it derives from tetch, an obsolete noun meaning "habit." The similarity both in meaning and pronunciation to touchy might lead you to conclude that tetchy is related to that word, but there is no conclusive evidence to suggest such a connection. The adjectives teched and tetched, meaning "mentally unbalanced," are variations of touched, and are probably also unrelated to tetchy.

Examples of tetchy in a Sentence

a morose and tetchy resident of a nursing home

Recent Examples on the Web

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Boos rang around an increasingly tetchy Goodison at the end of Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Brentford, a game in which Everton had a player advantage for 56 minutes including additional time but could not muster enough quality to win. —

Patrick Boyland, The Athletic, 24 Nov. 2024 Sunak dropped his attempts at contrition and became tetchy and confrontational instead. —

Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 29 June 2024 Janet has a boyfriend on the premises, too: a terse, tetchy older fellow named Wayne (Will Patton), who mostly keeps to himself. —

Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 14 June 2024 Laying bright, bracing guitars over taut, tetchy, minimalist drums and bass, their sound brings to mind Wire and the very earliest Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen. —

Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 14 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for tetchy