tetchy

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective easily irritated or annoyed

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

cranky, fractious, irritable, nettlesome, peevish, peckish, pettish, petulant, scratchy, testy, techy

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