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as in combustible
capable of catching or being set on fire the experiment involves the use of some touchy chemicals, so caution is required

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 touchy But the committees’ suspense files are where hundreds of politically touchy bills die quietly each year with only a few insiders knowing the real reasons. Calmatters, Oc Register, 3 Sep. 2025 It’s also oddly bifurcated into two noticeably chunks, with the first half focusing on Hank and Yvonne’s tender but touchy, highly tectchy relationship and the second half leaning into the gonzo forward momentum of a get-the-dough crime flick. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 28 Aug. 2025 After Caroline's statement, a Kennedy family insider told PEOPLE that there's always been a touchy dynamic between JFK's daughter and the many children of RFK, noting that Caroline's attack merely brought the tension to the surface. Rachel Raposas, People.com, 26 Aug. 2025 Diane Gottsman, national etiquette expert and founder of The Protocol School of Texas, has thoughts—and even a personal take—on this touchy subject. Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 4 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for touchy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for touchy
Adjective
  • This allows users to benefit from AI acceleration without exposing sensitive information.
    Ni Tao, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Teens will need to allow their parents access and provide them with a time-sensitive QR code to complete activation.
    Alex Vance, Parents, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • These events encourage community members to dispose of hazardous materials like gasoline, oil, chemicals, and more, which can be difficult to dispose of and pose a safety risk if not handled correctly.
    Kamron Sanders, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Don't Look Now manipulates audiences' minds, mixing elements of the occult with the overwhelming need for hope into a plot twist audiences will find difficult to swallow.
    Steven Thrash, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The accelerated momentum was helpful in stabilizing — or perhaps acclimating viewers to — the show’s mishmash of tones, which staple together motormouthed policy wonkery and combustible romantic chemistry.
    Alison Herman, Variety, 16 Oct. 2025
  • In a criminal complaint, authorities allege Rinderknecht caused the fire by lighting a combustible material, such as vegetation or paper, with an open flame, likely a lighter.
    Alex Stone, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Emery was irritable at full time.
    Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Additionally, Owens’ youngest child, Titus, who was just a toddler when his mother died, was confused, irritable and inconsolable in the weeks after her death, Dias shared.
    Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Whether or not Takaichi's administration is as tough on immigration issues as her campaign rhetoric suggests, some observers warn that failing to actively invest in and integrate foreign nationals into society will have lasting harm on Asia’s second-largest economy.
    Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Without a consolidation of that vote in the final stretch, Mamdani appears tough to beat.
    New York Times, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Daniel Charles Ball's case was immediately dismissed following the pardon, despite the fact that he had been accused of throwing an explosive device at a group of about two dozen Capitol Police officers who were approaching the rioters.
    Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 21 Oct. 2025
  • What To Know A naval mine, an explosive device deployed in the water, is designed to destroy ships and submarines and to deny the enemy access to specific ocean areas or confine them to certain locations.
    Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Hallmarks of the best Halloween travel destinations usually entail a moody fall landscape, local legends that involve a tetchy ghost, vampire, or other variety of ominous being, and themed activities like pumpkin patches and cemetery tours.
    Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 18 Oct. 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
Adjective
  • Assembly Bill 888 establishes a grant program aimed at helping low- and middle-income homeowners in high-fire-risk areas to pay for the removal of flammable vegetation and implement other mitigating measures—like installing fire-resistant materials—within 5 feet of their homes.
    Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
  • For maximum effectiveness, gas detectors should be installed low to the ground near gas appliances, since most flammable gases are heavier than air.
    Lauren Bengtson, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Touchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/touchy. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.

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