as in emotional
showing feeling freely
she is too touchy-feely and he is too stiff-upper-lip for their relationship to ever work out
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of touchy-feely
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for touchy-feely
Adjective
-
To navigate emotional volatility, understand what behaviors are acceptable to you and create clear boundaries with the ones that are not.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
-
The emotions of that victory two years ago were apparent at the time — Sirianni was bombastic exiting the field after the emotional win — but there is no concept of revenge this time.—
Zach Berman,
New York Times,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
In Schorr’s photograph, the duo, played by Julia Garner and Cole Escola, is more ambiguous, more gender-flouting, projecting an air of affectionate defiance.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
-
However, when given affectionate touch from their partner, these feelings significantly reduced.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Touchy-feely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/touchy-feely. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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