tetchy
/ˈtɛtʃi
/adjective (tetchier, tetchiest)
Irritable and bad-tempered: she had always been tetchy and impatient with him a tetchy statement...
- You can see why people might get a little tetchy about their personal privacy with one company carving so many avenues into their lives, even if I do think those worries are ultimately unfounded.
- I'm feeling just a wee bit dehydrated and ever-so-slightly tetchy.
- Firm with the media in the past, he is now tetchy.
Synonyms
irritable, irascible, peevish, crotchety, cantankerous, cross, fractious, disagreeable, pettish, crabbed, crabby, waspish, prickly, testy, peppery, impatient, grumpy, bad-tempered, ill-tempered, ill-natured, ill-humoured, touchy, scratchy, volatile, crusty, dyspeptic, splenetic, liverish, short-tempered, hot-tempered, quick-tempered, choleric
informal snappish, snappy, chippy, grouchy, cranky, on a short fuse
British informal shirty, narky, ratty, eggy, like a bear with a sore head
North American informal peckish, soreheaded
Australian/New Zealand informal snaky
informal, dated miffy
Derivatives
tetchily
/ adverb ...- When his time came he tetchily refuted the notion that Peel might have contributed anything to his success.
- ‘You offered us answers,’ she reminded him tetchily.
- He added tetchily, ‘You don't have to face responsibilities of any sort do you?’
tetchiness
- A mild tetchiness and suspicion between the two counties has been evident in more than merely their refusal to contemplate a unified police unit.
- If you are a serious caffeine fiend, begin your detox on a non-working day as you'll probably be in for a bit of a headache and a prolonged bout of tetchiness.
- His extreme tetchiness was on show on that night's television news as he recounted, through gritted teeth, the agreement he had already reached with them over a financial review of the national stadium project.
Origin
Late 16th century: probably from a variant of Scots tache 'blotch, fault', from Old French teche.