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Synonyms

touchy-feely

American  
[tuhch-ee-fee-lee] / ˈtʌtʃ iˈfi li /

adjective

  1. Informal. emphasizing or marked by emotional openness and enthusiastic physicality.

    a touchy-feely encounter group.
touchy-feely British  
/ ˈtʌtʃɪˈfiːlɪ /

adjective

  1. informal openly displaying one's emotions and affections

"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

Other Word Forms

  • touchy-feeliness noun

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.

To create a profitable drug, you need the treatment to be as simple and scalable as possible—none of this touchy-feely stuff.

From Slate • Jan. 30, 2026

Aside from its touchy-feely tone, “Whispers” is a fascinating romp around the world to more than 50 exotic and ordinary places featuring stone.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

He said that his client had sometimes behaved badly, calling him "touchy-feely".

From BBC • Nov. 3, 2024

She’s touchy-feely with her female friends — linking arms, sitting close — but she doesn’t do that with her married male friends.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2024

That doesn’t mean Cicero was all touchy-feely, though.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

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.