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as in combustible
capable of catching or being set on fire the experiment involves the use of some touchy chemicals, so caution is required

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of touchy But the committees’ suspense files are where hundreds of politically touchy bills die quietly each year with only a few insiders knowing the real reasons. Calmatters, Oc Register, 3 Sep. 2025 It’s also oddly bifurcated into two noticeably chunks, with the first half focusing on Hank and Yvonne’s tender but touchy, highly tectchy relationship and the second half leaning into the gonzo forward momentum of a get-the-dough crime flick. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 28 Aug. 2025 After Caroline's statement, a Kennedy family insider told PEOPLE that there's always been a touchy dynamic between JFK's daughter and the many children of RFK, noting that Caroline's attack merely brought the tension to the surface. Rachel Raposas, People.com, 26 Aug. 2025 Diane Gottsman, national etiquette expert and founder of The Protocol School of Texas, has thoughts—and even a personal take—on this touchy subject. Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 4 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for touchy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for touchy
Adjective
  • Avoid posting sensitive information like travel plans, birthdays or financial updates on social media.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2025
  • The Creature, who remains nameless throughout the novel, develops into a sensitive and inquisitive soul, yet one shunned by the world for his appearance.
    Big Think, Big Think, 14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Travel could be very difficult to impossible.
    CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 12 Oct. 2025
  • This Is My Story While Israel and Hamas have accepted the two-phase agreement, many of the more difficult issues have been left unresolved.
    Richard Hall, Time, 12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • As in prior moral panics, the technology proved to be an easy and tangible scapegoat, which enabled Americans to avoid grappling with the complex social factors—like deindustrialization, urban decay, and disillusioned suburban children—that led to a combustible situation ripe for tragedy.
    Time, Time, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Rinderknecht — who once lived in the Pacific Palisades area — likely used a lighter that set fire to combustible material such as vegetation or paper, authorities alleged in the complaint.
    Nicole Acosta, PEOPLE, 8 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • However, the Moon is at odds with Mars, encouraging grumpy and irritable reactions.
    Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 15 Oct. 2025
  • However, such symptoms are hard to attribute to vaccines because infants can be irritable or fussy regardless of vaccination.
    Aria Bendix, NBC news, 19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The end result of a tough negotiation that included a nearly two-week blackout of Disney channels on Charter in 2023 was a much closer working relationship between the two.
    Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 11 Oct. 2025
  • Just a week after giving birth, Menish took her six-hour Evidence exam from home in December 2023 — one of the toughest finals in the curriculum.
    Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The one piece that the Chiefs are arguably still missing is an explosive rusher at the running back position, where Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt have split responsibilities to this point.
    Max Dible, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Oct. 2025
  • The manufacturing facility, Accurate Energetic Systems, lies roughly 60 miles west of Nashville and crafts highly explosive products for the military and industrial companies.
    Rebekah Riess, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Reynolds is a tetchy tyrant, who, enabled by his sister, Cyril (Lesley Manville), has embraced a need to have things just so as a means of warding off vulnerability.
    Alison Willmore, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
  • Or the public’s general distaste for being confronted with tetchy societal issues will still prevail; doom-scrolling should be done on one’s phone at home, not out in the world among other people.
    Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Methanol is a clear, odorless, highly flammable liquid found in antifreeze, varnish and fuel.
    Alessandra Freitas, CNN Money, 12 Oct. 2025
  • Keep flammable elements from coming into contact with the lightbulbs.
    Emily Williams, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Touchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/touchy. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.

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