Word of the Day

: September 19, 2008

tetchy

adjective TETCH-ee

What It Means

: irritably or peevishly sensitive : touchy

tetchy in Context

Nico sensed that his sister was in a tetchy mood, so he decided to wait until the next day to ask to borrow her car.

Did You Know?

"Tetchy" is a word that may have been coined by Shakespeare -- its first known use in English occurs in Romeo and Juliet (1592). Etymologists are not certain how the word came about, but some have suggested that it derives from "tetch," an obsolete noun meaning "habit." The similarity both in meaning and pronunciation to "touchy" might lead you to conclude that "tetchy" is related to that word, but there is no conclusive evidence to suggest such a connection. The adjectives "teched" and "tetched," meaning "mentally unbalanced," are variations of "touched," and are probably also unrelated to "tetchy."