Other Word Forms
- itchiness noun
Etymology
Origin of itchy
1520–30; itch, + -y 1; compare Old English giccig (rare) purulent, putrid
Explanation
If you're itchy, you've got a rash or a spot on your skin that you really want to scratch. Mosquito bites are notoriously itchy, and the least fun thing about summer time. Poison ivy, hives, bug bites, sunburn, lice — all of these things make you itchy, and it might even make you feel itchy just to think about them. A figurative way to be itchy is to be antsy or restless, and if someone has "itchy feet," it means they like to roam or travel, staying on the move. If, on the other hand, they have "itchy palms," they can't be trusted not to steal things.
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.
As a reporter working on a computer more than eight hours most days, my eyes often feel fatigued and itchy by evening.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
I was just a bit itchy, I always had to move.
From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026
When an irritant gets on your skin, a biochemical process activates sensory neurons that make you itchy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026
On the few times I have risked it, I’ve come home nauseous, and with a pounding headache, itchy red eyes, and lungs that feel inflamed and like they won’t quite fill up all the way.
From Slate • Feb. 12, 2026
She fought the urge to fidget, as if the campus were an itchy sweater.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.
