Word a Day
touchy
What does touchy mean?
touchy (adjective): difficult to handle; requiring great tact.
Definition: Princeton WordNet 3.1.
How do you use touchy in a sentence?
- A touchy subject. (Princeton WordNet 3.1)
How do you pronounce touchy?
/ˈtʌtʃi/ (IPA, American English). The app reads every word aloud.
Where does touchy come from?
A variant of earlier tetchy (“cranky, easily annoyed, difficult to handle”), under influence from some senses of touch (“affect, disturb”) and simulating touch + -y.
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Test yourself: do you know “touchy”?
Tap an answer to check it. The same questions the app asks.
What does “touchy” mean?
free from external control and constraint
Not quite: that's what independent means.
difficult to handle; requiring great tact
Right! That's what “touchy” means.
capable of producing great physical force
Not quite: that's what strong means.
existing in possibility, not in actuality
Not quite: that's what potential means.
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