testy
[tes-tee]
- irritably impatient; touchy.
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Origin of testy
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
sullen, cantankerous, cranky, edgy, impatient, uptight, quarrelsome, grumpy, annoyed, exasperated, bad-tempered, captious, choleric, cross, crotchety, fretful, grouchy, irascible, mean, orneryExamples from the Web for testy
Contemporary Examples
The Anglo-American “conversations” about the timing of the second front often grew heated and testy.
I've never seen a government official get quite this testy with a reporter.
There is a relationship that develops, tense and often testy, between a journalist and his quarry.
Meanawhile, there are headlines about Obama getting “testy” with reporter Brad Watson of WFAA in Dallas.
Given her testy relations with management, it would be easy to label Simpson a troublemaker.
Historical Examples
"That's all right, that's all right," was the testy rejoinder.
Fair HarborJoseph Crosby Lincoln
This, reader, is the abode of the testy but extremely dignified Mrs. Swiggs.
An OutcastF. Colburn Adams
He didn't know it, but she was trying to say she was sorry she had been impatient and testy.
Sunny Boy in the Big CityRamy Allison White
She was testy too; but this was owing to the neglect she experienced at the hands of her tribe.
UngavaR.M. Ballantyne
He was a testy man, and struck the stone an impatient blow with his staff.
Richard Carvel, CompleteWinston Churchill
testy
- irritable or touchy
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Word Origin
C14: from Anglo-Norman testif headstrong, from Old French teste head, from Late Latin testa skull, from Latin: shell
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for testy
adj.
c.1500, "impetuous, rash," from Middle English testif "headstrong" (late 14c.), from Anglo-French testif, Old French testu "stubborn," literally "heady," from teste "head," from Late Latin testa "skull," in classical Latin "pot, shell" (see tester (n.2)). Meaning "easily irritated" is first recorded 1520s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper