ticklish
Americanadjective
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sensitive to tickling.
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requiring careful or delicate handling or action; difficult or risky; dicey.
a ticklish situation.
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extremely sensitive; touchy.
He is ticklish about being interrupted.
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unstable or easily upset, as a boat; unsteady.
adjective
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susceptible and sensitive to being tickled
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delicate or difficult
a ticklish situation
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easily upset or offended
Other Word Forms
- ticklishly adverb
- ticklishness noun
Etymology
Origin of ticklish
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.
If he can’t bowl at all, then England have the ticklish decision of whether to drop a batter or bowler.
From BBC • Oct. 11, 2024
The job drought is a ticklish problem for the ruling Communist Party, which is overseeing a sluggish post-pandemic economic recovery worsened by a downturn in the property market.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 12, 2023
There’s a ticklish note of meta-pleasure to Blanchett’s performance: She may be playing the role of the conductor with impeccable poise, but so, of course, is Lydia herself.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 6, 2022
There’s a crooked face composed of peas, peppers and a lone olive atop the causa de pollo, a carefully layered mashed-potato cake stuffed with chicken salad, so creamy and ticklish.
From Washington Post • Nov. 8, 2021
“Well, for example,” Max said, “was he ticklish or not?”
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
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.
