Elizabeth Taylor †1975
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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
Brett Berk, Robb Report, 3 Sep. 2025
Britain has since struck a trade deal with the U.S., however, becoming the first country to do so as tetchy trade talks continue for other trading partners, including the European Union which is still waiting to sign a trade agreement with Washington.
—Jenni Reid,holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 11 July 2025
Her new novel, Spent, tells the story of one Alison Bechdel, a tetchy lesbian cartoonist running a pygmy-goat sanctuary in Vermont who is trying to write a memoir about the corrupting influence of money.
—Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 16 June 2025
One is her ex, the struggling, somewhat tetchy actor/caterer John, played by Chris Evans.
—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for tetchy
Cite this Entry
“Tetchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tetchy. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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