tetchy
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tetchy
Explanation
If you're feeling tetchy, you're irritable or easily annoyed. Stepping in a puddle on your way to school and spending the whole day with cold, wet socks might make you tetchy. Is your brother cranky and no fun to be around today? He's tetchy. This adjective is similar to words like testy, peevish and grumpy. It's another way to describe your fractious friend or your snappy sister. The origin of tetchy is unclear, but most experts suspect it comes from the Scots word tache, "blotch" or "fault."
Vocabulary lists containing tetchy
"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 1
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The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze
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The Red Car to Hollywood
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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:
Tortorella’s an acquired taste—he can be tetchy, and the NHL isn’t always thrilled—but he and the Knights have been a temperamental match.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
McIlroy is a different man compared with the tetchy figure who shunned the media for much of last year's PGA.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
Porter apologized and expressed remorse for her tetchy behavior.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2026
In a tetchy exchange, the officials insisted that the response had been swift and effective and that it was "untrue and insulting" to criticise.
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2025
“Hey,” he says, suddenly tetchy, “I’m paying you, you know.”
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
The tone got tetchier still the next day, when he was asked in South Carolina whether the cuts meant his campaign was struggling.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 26, 2015
As Ms. Franklin got older and tetchier, handling her became an ever more delicate art, in ways that the book discusses.
From New York Times ● Oct. 29, 2014
Harry himself is tetchier than ever, despite the veritable avalanche of female attention suddenly coming his way.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 8, 2011
The tetchiest moment of the committee hearing, came when the prime minister faced questions about the UK's defensive readiness.
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2026
They're good boys, as I said afore; but they're quick and tetchy—George, being the youngest, nat'rally is the tetchiest.
From Devil's Ford by Harte, Bret
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.
