edgy
Americanadjective
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nervously irritable; impatient and anxious.
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sharp-edged; sharply defined, as outlines.
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daringly innovative; on the cutting edge.
adjective
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(usually postpositive) nervous, irritable, tense, or anxious
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(of paintings, drawings, etc) excessively defined
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innovative, or at the cutting edge, with the concomitant qualities of intensity and excitement
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of edgy
Explanation
If you're edgy, you're uptight, tense, or anxious. You might find yourself getting nervous and edgy right before you take a difficult test. A tendency to get edgy — irritable and jittery — might be a result of too much coffee, or just a personality trait. It's not a very helpful habit in most cases, leading you to snap at other people or just feel tense. An informal way to use edgy is to mean "experimental or daring." In the 18th century, something edgy literally had sharp edges, but by the early 1800s it came to mean "tense and irritable."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ownership of a copy became shorthand for edgy, intellectual sensitivity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Now, the chain known for its deals and edgy marketing is cranking up its offerings again in a bid to quickly recover.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
He was an active participant in defending Andrew Tate, using his influence to validate an accused predator because it fit the edgy, anti-establishment aesthetic of the modern manosphere media.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
But Adrian is never far from his thoughts or absent from the screen: this smiling, happy boy slowly transforming into an edgy, troubled young man whose sweetness still occasionally shines through.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
He asked her about growing up in New Orleans, but she got edgy at his questions, so they made small talk instead.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
He returned to recording in January 1962 with “The Bridge,” which featured a new, edgier and more abstract sound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
Fan favorites Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo return in this slightly edgier ‘NCIS’ offshoot set in foreign locations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026
So whether you want family-friendly fare, holiday vibes, relaxing release or edgier escapism – there’s plenty to check out.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
"If it was edgy to do jeans for November 1988, I think it was even edgier for her to do Madonna," says Amy Odell, author of Anna: The Biography.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2025
Jason had been having the same feeling, but hearing Nico say it made him even edgier.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Every Disney movie raises us to recognize that villains always get the best lines, the edgiest wardrobes and, sometimes, the most darling pets.
From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2026
I just, that kind of stuff and stand-up, you know, some comics look for the edgiest stuff, or the stuff that like is gonna be clickbait.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2025
One of the edgiest is a former tobacco factory in the gritty Athens neighborhood of Kolonos whose pink and yellow facade has drawn comparisons to a giant Battenberg cake.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2022
“Ted Lasso,” for example, “isn’t the edgiest show. It’s a feel-good show and something that, apart from a couple parts here and there, could easily be a broadcast show.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 14, 2021
He’ll use it all to unleash the edgiest, best Westbrook.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 21, 2020
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
