: characterized by or encouraging interpersonal touching especially in the free expression of emotions
touchy-feely therapy
also : openly or excessively emotional and personal
gets all touchy-feely with his adoring fans

Examples of touchy-feely in a Sentence

she is too touchy-feely and he is too stiff-upper-lip for their relationship to ever work out
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Looser, more touchy-feely styles include gentle parenting and freestyle parenting. ​wendy Wisner, Parents, 19 Aug. 2025 The image of her cutting a snake in half with her shovel doesn’t conjure up a touchy-feely woman. Marc Berman august 15, Literary Hub, 15 Aug. 2025 By contrast, Drebin Jr. is more like a clumsy, aging Saint Bernard: a big, shambling man who wears a dour frown but can turn touchy-feely when the talk turns to romance, owls, or turkey dinners. Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 8 Aug. 2025 Despite that seemingly blasé way the pair first met, the documentary is willing to get a bit more touchy-feely than Lewis herself, making a sterling argument that the duo were really just two pieces of one entity. Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 17 July 2025 But empathy is a bit too touchy-feely as a consistent motivation—at least for me. Jeremy Gordon, The Atlantic, 24 June 2025 Some people just aren’t touchy-feely — and that’s their prerogative. Catherine Pearson, New York Times, 22 May 2025 Bringing more manufacturing back to US shores, including the iPhone assembly work that Trump seems so keen on would surely require greater use of robots—especially systems with the touchy-feely skills needed to manipulate small, intricate components. Will Knight, Wired News, 7 May 2025 Valerie Bertinelli is standing up for Drew Barrymore and her naturally touchy-feely personality. EW.com, 31 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1968, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of touchy-feely was in 1968

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Cite this Entry

“Touchy-feely.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/touchy-feely. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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