tetchy

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

tetchy

/ˈtɛt͡ʃi/

Rhymes with -ɛtʃi

Where it comes from

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.

adjective tetchier · tetchiest · titchy · techy · techie · teachy

Commonwealth, Ireland, Southern US, UK Synonym of touchy: easily annoyed or irritated, peevish, testy, irascible; also (figurative) extremely sensitive, difficult to manage, use, or work. Nurce: ...But as I said, when it did tast the wormwood on the nipple of my dug, & felt it bitter, pretty foole to see it teachie and fall out with Dugge...
Similar: touchy

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"tetchy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tetchy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tetchy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tetchy

Chicago

"tetchy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tetchy.

BibTeX

@misc{tetchy_2026,
  title = {tetchy},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tetchy},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}