tetchy

adjective

ˈte-chē 

tetchier; tetchiest

: 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.

Synonyms of tetchy

• irritable
• sensitive
• huffy
• touchy
• ticklish

Examples of tetchy in a Sentence

a morose and tetchy resident of a nursing home

Recent Examples on the Web

In the first week of testimony, Musk took the stand and couldn’t help but get tetchy. — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 20 May 2026

Edgily eager to shoot their scenes and get a move on with their acting lives, the increasingly tetchy trio are stuck in virtual drydock as all actual moviemaking has drained away. — Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 10 Mar. 2026

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

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

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from obsolete tetch habit

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tetchy

• sketchy

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!