tetchy

== English == === Alternative forms === titchy techy, techie, teachy, teachie, teechy, tetchie, tecchy, titchie, tichy, tertchy, tatchy, tachy (obsolete) === Etymology === Uncertain, first attested as teachie in the 1597 first quarto versions of Romeo and Juliet and Richard III. Perhaps coined by Shakespeare. Also variously derived from English tetch (“tantrum, fit of anger”); from Scots tache (“blotch, fault”); from Middle English tatch (“blemish”) &c. under influence from touchy. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈtɛt͡ʃi/ Rhymes: -ɛtʃi Hyphenation: tetch‧y === Adjective === tetchy (comparative tetchier, superlative tetchiest) (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, Southern US) Synonym of touchy: easily annoyed or irritated, peevish, testy, irascible; also (figurative) extremely sensitive, difficult to manage, use, or work. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === “tetchy / techy, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. “tetchy”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present. Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “tetchy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. “tetchy”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN. tetchy in the Dictionary of American Regional English "tetchy", in T.F Hoad's Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, 1996. === Anagrams === chetty