edgy
Americanadjective
-
nervously irritable; impatient and anxious.
-
sharp-edged; sharply defined, as outlines.
-
daringly innovative; on the cutting edge.
adjective
-
(usually postpositive) nervous, irritable, tense, or anxious
-
(of paintings, drawings, etc) excessively defined
-
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.
Edgy Productions said it was "shocked and saddened" to hear that the school and staff were targeted with abuse.
From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025
Edgy content focused on teens and kids can easily cause trouble.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2023
Edgy and challenging work may rankle traditionalists, so we must find ways to be “both/and,” retaining current relationships while urgently cultivating new ones.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 25, 2023
Edgy up my Batman, sure, but if the life-affirming silliness of Clueless goes over to the dark side, I will, as Cher says, be buggin’.
From The Guardian • Oct. 19, 2019
Edgy and sharp, but with kindness somewhere inside him, ready to slip out when I need it.
From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman
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.
