thin-skinned

adjective

ˈthin-ˌskind How to pronounce thin-skinned (audio)
Definition of thin-skinnednext
as in sensitive
easily offended she only laughed at the teasing, but a more thin-skinned person would have gotten angry

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 thin-skinned The interviewees were willing to talk openly and honestly about Trump covered by anonymity, a necessity to protect them from this fiercely thin-skinned and retributive president. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 25 June 2026 Cucumbers with thicker skin will last longer than thin-skinned varieties, but they should all be stored the same way. — Susan Hall Mahon, Southern Living, 8 June 2026 Dolan earned his reputation with a mix of poor team performance, uninspired front office hiring, and a reputation as a thin-skinned dictator, including banning former player Charles Oakley from Madison Square Garden and using facial recognition technology to monitor fans. — Alex Sherman, CNBC, 28 May 2026 This year, however, multiple high level sources said the conglomerates are particularly thin-skinned about the scathing Cannes critics. — Brent Lang, Variety, 16 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for thin-skinned
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thin-skinned
  1. sensitive
  2. tetchy
  3. irritable
  4. touchy
  5. huffy
  6. ticklish
Adjective
  • The housing market, being the most interest rate sensitive sector, bears the initial brunt of this pressure.
    — , CNBC, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Saavedra admitted to illegally using his department credentials to access sensitive law enforcement databases on Iza’s behalf.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of sensitive
Adjective
  • Schrader approaches some pretty tetchy, third-rail territory, doing some debating about whether one act of child abuse means that John is, inherently, a child abuser by nature.
    — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2026
  • And then an ignominious end to her Indian Wells title defense, which saw her cursing at the crowd after a tense, tetchy loss to Kateřina Siniaková in her second match.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 2 June 2026
Definition of tetchy
Adjective
  • Coach There’s no better feeling than walking into your last show of the day, irritable and hungry, only to discover that snacks are being served.
    — Anna Grace Lee, Vogue, 17 Sep. 2026
  • If a relative or housemate seems irritable, ask what’s going on instead of working around the mood.
    — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of irritable
Adjective
  • By sticking her neck out and opening up a very touchy subject for examination, Hannah-Jones has done much more to advance the cause of public education than most of her detractors will give her credit for.
    — Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Despite their pointy protrusions, the sculptures are not spiky enough to leave a mark; and despite their flirtations with touchy subject matter, none of the works—not even the 9/11 ones—are vulgar enough to get Wolfson in hot water.
    — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of touchy
Adjective
  • Ben Green’s thumping bass leads to huffy breathing, which leads to bone-snapping drum machine rhythms and an ectoplasmic elastic guitar riff.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Eleven hours into this 15-hour shift, most of the attending’s best qualities — his pragmatic approach to medicine, his encouragement of young colleagues, his ability to roll with unexpected challenges — have curdled into huffy dismissiveness and defensive blind spots.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2026
Definition of huffy
Adjective
  • By combining literacy with something welcoming and familiar like food, Cruz hopes to make the ticklish topic more approachable.
    — Catharine Kaufman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2026
  • But all that interest, here, also can generate another ticklish dynamic.
    — Brian Hamilton, New York Times, 8 May 2026
Definition of ticklish

Browse Nearby Words

thins
thin-skinned
third rail
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Thin-skinned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thin-skinned. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of adventitious

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All