TOUCHINESS Synonyms: 94 Similar and Opposite Words

touchiness

noun

Definition of touchiness

as in sensitivity

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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 touchiness Their drama is already stale, and between Nathan’s touchiness and Joe’s mistreatment of women, their fight over who is a better guy, a better seaman, a better worker, a better boyfriend is disengaging at best and aggravating at worst. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 23 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for touchiness

Noun

Nonetheless, no agreements have been reached yet, partly because of the complexities of the issues surrounding AI, as well as sensitivities around how Hollywood talent and unions would react, the sources said.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Besides a wide-field infrared camera that matches Hubble’s sensitivity but is 1,000 times faster, Roman holds an instrument to block out starlight.

— Marcia Dunn, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of sensitivity

Noun

The once-vaunted values of public life are now reduced to the lower standards of private life—venality, vulgarity, rudeness, incontinence, and ignorance.

— Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026
Tell her about the long, unwelcome chats, the bullying and the rudeness.

— Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 25 June 2026

Definition of rudeness

Noun

Funding for refugee support is drying up, hostility toward Ukrainians is growing, and Poland still lacks a long-term integration strategy.

— ABC News, ABC News, 25 Aug. 2026
Iran accepted meaningful limits on its nuclear program in 2015, for instance, and reversed decades of hostility toward Saudi Arabia by normalizing ties in 2023.

— Nate Swanson, Foreign Affairs, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of hostility

Noun

Knight paid Shakur’s bail and signed him to Death Row Records in Los Angeles, absorbing his artist’s growing animosity toward Combs, Wallace and their Bad Boy Records circle in New York.

— Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026
Some farmers feel animosity toward the peach association for not getting ahead of the Del Monte bankruptcy and for not doing more to help farmers now that the damage has been done.

— Lizzie Kane, Sacbee.com, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of animosity

Noun

Add the pathetic reality that Illinois is the very definition of unfriendliness for business development and job creation, and the only thing Pritzker and his accomplices can campaign on is the vilification of Trump, facts be damned.

— Paul Miller, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2026
Images accompanied by verbal descriptions of their generosity and kindness resulted in higher scores of facial attractiveness than when the same images were accompanied by negative traits like selfishness and unfriendliness.

— Sable Yong, TIME, 28 June 2024

Definition of unfriendliness

Noun

By defining other civilizations as alien cultures, a civilizationist grand strategy might fuel antagonism rather than tolerate differences.

— Leonard A. Schuette, Foreign Affairs, 25 Aug. 2026
Still, the economic particulars underpinning this needless antagonism essentially are beside the point.

— The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of antagonism

Noun

The other is that Republicans’ antipathy towards vote-by-mail is waning.

— Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 1 June 2026
Alexander Kazakov | Afp | Getty Images That Russia and China are seen as ideologically aligned on many geopolitical issues, with each sharing a traditional antipathy and distrust towards the West, and Washington.

— Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 20 May 2026

Definition of antipathy

Noun

The company falls squarely in the ultra-luxury tier while eschewing much of the fussiness that typifies other players in the space.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Aug. 2026
As the name suggests, Phillips Avent’s silicone pacifiers help soothe babies’ suckling reflex and tame fussiness almost instantly.

— Melissa Willets, Parents, 1 July 2026

Definition of fussiness

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touches (upon)

touchiness

touching

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“Touchiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/touchiness. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of touchiness

noun

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