peckish
Americanadjective
-
somewhat hungry.
By noon we were feeling a bit peckish.
-
rather irritable.
He's always a bit peckish after his nap.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of peckish
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.
Mahaffy, who starred in the exuberant revival of “A Man of No Importance” at A Noise Within last season, is more insistently peckish — hungry rather than hangry.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 9, 2025
And that in whatever jazzy afterlife exists for wayward novelists, they’re up there ashing carelessly into their martinis, and letting ids and peckish wildcats run free.
From New York Times • Nov. 25, 2023
Using infrared sensors, the team watched which landing platforms the peckish mosquitoes chose.
From Science Magazine • May 18, 2023
I arrived peckish and beelined for Doc Morgan’s Pub & Restaurant, which spills onto a lawn fronting the Union Steamship Marina.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 3, 2022
A train of mules trailed behind them, carrying chests and ~ casks and barrels, and hampers of delectables to keep the lord of cheese from growing peckish.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
