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

• 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

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

The first takes us back to January 2023 and the first leg of a tetchy Carabao Cup semi-final against Southampton, whose Duje Caleta-Car is shown a red card late on. —George Caulkin, New York Times, 21 May 2025

At least, that’s how a plurality of Americans perceive the tetchy state of our union. —Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from obsolete tetch habit

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tetchy

• sketchy

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