touchy
[ tuhch-ee ]
/ ˈtʌtʃ i /
adjective, touch·i·er, touch·i·est.
apt to take offense on slight provocation; irritable: He is very touchy when he's sick.
requiring caution, tactfulness, or expert handling; precarious; risky: a touchy subject; a touchy situation.
sensitive to touch.
easily ignited, as tinder.
RELATED WORDS
tricky, jumpy, testy, precarious, sensitive, uptight, volatile, delicate, ticklish, risky, dicey, hypersensitive, bad-tempered, cantankerous, captious, choleric, cranky, cross, grouchy, grumpy
Nearby words
- touchpaper,
- touchpoint,
- touchscreen,
- touchstone,
- touchwood,
- touchy-feely,
- touché,
- touggourt,
- tough,
- tough break
Origin of touchy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for touchy
touchy
/ (ˈtʌtʃɪ) /
adjective touchier or touchiest
easily upset or irritated; oversensitive
extremely risky
easily ignited
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
touchy
"too sensitive," c.1600, perhaps an alteration of tetchy (q.v.) influenced by touch (v.). Related: Touchiness.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper