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:
However, traders remain edgy and tech firms once again saw big moves Monday, with Seoul swinging from a near two percent gain to a more than two percent loss.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Would you say he’s overly dismissive of criticism that the show isn’t funny, or what have you, not edgy enough, simply because he has heard it all before?
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
MEUNIER: When you have a strong DNA as a company, like Nissan had and has, it is really about durability, affordability, but also exciting products—fun to drive, fun design, and different, edgy products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
They’re expressive of their times without being showily edgy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
Ominous booms of distant thunder made Liyana feel edgy inside.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
She was known for her raspy vocals, offering listeners an edgier sound that also melded rock and pop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
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
Some have rejected the film as flimsy satire; others have wanted its message to be edgier and more obvious.
From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2026
"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
Volpe began to dabble in somewhat edgier fare, beginning with Pippin, a dark and existential musical inspired by the story of Charlemagne’s rebellious son.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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
The Aluminaire House, one of the earliest and edgiest examples of the International Style of modernist architecture in America, was never meant to withstand a harsh desert climate.
From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
“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
German actor Udo Kier has worked with some of cinema’s edgiest renegades, from Andy Warhol and Rainer Werner Fassbinder to Gus Van Sant and Lars von Trier.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 11, 2021
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.
