touchy

English

Pronunciation

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  Rhymes: -ʌtʃi

Etymology

From touch + -y

Adjective

touchy (comparative touchier, superlative touchiest)

1. (of a situation) Extremely sensitive or volatile; easily disturbed to the point of becoming unstable; requiring caution or tactfulness.

   It is an extremely touchy situation, with everybody's patience wearing thin.

2. (of a person) Easily offended; oversensitive; ticklish.

   He can be very touchy when you talk about his cat, so be as tactful as possible.

Related terms

• touchy-feely

Translations

sensitive or volatile

• Czech: netýkavý (cs)
• German: heikel (de), empfindlich (de)

• Russian: чувствительный (ru) (čuvstvítelʹnyj)
• Turkish: hassas (tr)

easily offended; oversensitive

• Armenian: նեղացկոտ (hy) (nełacʿkot)
• French: susceptible (fr)
• German: gereizt (de), reizbar (de), übelnehmerisch (de), empfindlich (de), (colloquial) zickig (de)

• Persian: زود رنج (fa) (zud-ranj)
• Russian: обидчивый (ru) (obídčivyj)
• Turkish: alıngan (tr), darılgan (tr)

See also

• tetchy
• touch and go