touched

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʌt͡ʃt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌtʃt

Adjective

touched (comparative more touched, superlative most touched)

1. Emotionally moved (by), made to feel emotion (by).

   I was touched that he should remember my birthday.

   • 1845, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil, Book 4, Chapter 1:

     "They say her Majesty is more touched about these affairs of the Chartists than anything else," said Mr Egerton.

   • 1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Chapter 42: All Alone”, in Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:

     “If there is anything good or true in what I write, it isn’t mine. I owe it all to you and Mother and Beth,” said Jo, more touched by her father’s words than by any amount of praise from the world.

   • 1883, Jules Verne, Mary de Hauteville (translator), The Green Ray, Chapter XXI: A Tempest in a Cavern,

     “And you came to save me, Mr. Oliver,” answered Miss Campbell, more touched by the courage of the young man than the dangers which could still happen.

2. Slightly mentally deficient; touched in the head.
   • 1913, Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Eva M. Martin, The Idiot, Part III, Chapter IV:

     "Don't you see he is a lunatic, prince?" whispered Evgenie Pavlovitch in his ear. "Someone told me just now that he is a bit touched on the subject of lawyers, that he has a mania for making speeches and intends to pass the examinations. I am expecting a splendid burlesque now."

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 8: The Lestrygonians]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     All a bit touched. Mad Fanny and his other sister Mrs Dickinson driving about with scarlet harness.

   • 2012, Zadie Smith, NW, London: Penguin Books, published 2013, →ISBN, page 7:

     The girl’s face is dreamy, slow. Touched, the Irish say. Possible that she’s touched.

Synonyms

• (moved): affected, emotional, moved
• (slightly mentally deficient): retarded (offensive), touched in the head

Derived terms

• untouched

Translations

moved

• Bulgarian: трогнат (bg) (trognat), развълнуван (bg) (razvǎlnuvan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 感動／感动 (zh) (gǎndòng)

• Dutch: ontroerd (nl)
• Estonian: liigutatud, puudutatud
• Finnish: liikuttunut
• French: ému (fr)
• German: bewegt (de)
• Hebrew: נפעם (nifʿam)
• Italian: commosso (it)
• Polish: poruszony (pl), wzruszony
• Swedish: rörd (sv)

mentally deficient — see touched in the head

Verb

touched

1. simple past and past participle of touch