Other Word Forms
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.
See Examples For:
The answer is so ugly, itchy, moldy, noisy, grotty, busy, dirty and gloomy that those adjectives lend their names to the chapters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2026
Bushra Tbakhi was in med school when she developed an unattractive, “creepy” itchy patch above one of her eyes.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2026
"Anyone who notices hair shedding, an itchy or red scalp or nail changes should mention it to their doctor rather than discontinue therapy."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
Some 1,300 kilometres away, in the Philippine island province of Palawan, residents reported similar symptoms, including itchy eyes, nose and throat.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
I picked out an outfit for their daughter, Rabiya, since we have the same taste in desi clothes: nothing itchy or “auntie-looking.”
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
Scratch that bite now, and it only gets itchier later.
From Slate ● Mar. 8, 2022
The researchers surmised that increased levels of CO2 in coming decades would lead to bigger, faster growing, and itchier poison ivy plants.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2021
A year into the shutdown, one’s finger on the keyboard pause button gets itchier by the day.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2021
His fast-forward finger, though, seems a bit itchier than everyone else’s.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2013
The white stockings are new though, and even itchier than the brown ones I wear to school.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Musk had the biggest wallet, and the itchiest tweeting finger, and the widest eyes.
From Slate ● Sep. 30, 2022
As a result, investors are equipped with the itchiest trigger fingers ever in one of the touchiest periods in history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2012
This bum, memorably played by Donald Pleasence, is the smelliest, itchiest, un-deloused scamp ever plucked from the rim of a rubbish barrel.
From Time Magazine Archive
Even after all these years, Eddie Rickenbacker, 77, the World War I flying ace, still has the itchiest trigger finger in the West.
From Time Magazine Archive
“I’m itchy all over. I’m the itchiest in the world.”
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
