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.
I was just a bit itchy, I always had to move.
From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026
"I'm holding out / Do you love me now? / Do you?" he pleads over an itchy drum pattern on The Waiting Game.
From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026
Local mosquito experts blame the unseasonable weather pattern and a thriving invasive species for the surge in itchy bites.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 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
His feet feel itchy beneath the table, and he wonders how soon he will be able to escape.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
