English Explanatory Dictionary

tetchy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Synonym of touchy: easily annoyed or irritated, peevish, testy, irascible; also (figurative) extremely sensitive, difficult to manage, use, or work.

Pronunciation

/ˈtɛt͡ʃi/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tetchy.wav

Word forms

tetchy tetchier tetchiest titchy techy techie teachy teachie teechy tetchie tecchy titchie tichy tertchy tatchy tachy

Etymology

Uncertain, first attested as teachie in the 1597 first quarto versions of Romeo and Juliet and Richard III. Perhaps coined by Shakespeare. Also variously derived from English tetch (“tantrum, fit of anger”); from Scots tache (“blotch, fault”); from Middle English tatch (“blemish”) &c. under influence from touchy.

Synonyms

touchy

Related words

tetchily tetchiness

Derived words

touchy
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