A.Word.A.Day --tetchy

A.Word.A.Day

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Feb 9, 2011

This week's theme
Words to describe people

This week's words
dyspeptic
caitiff
tetchy
valetudinarian
reticent

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

tetchy

PRONUNCIATION:

(TECH-ee)

MEANING:

adjective: Easily annoyed; oversensitive.

ETYMOLOGY:

Of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle English tache/teche (blemish). Earliest documented use: 1597.

USAGE:

"O comes across as tired and tetchy, and fed up with being unfairly treated by the press."
So Who Wrote O?; Daily Mail (London, UK); Jan 21, 2011.

See more usage examples of tetchy in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed. -Herman Melville, novelist and poet (1819-1891)

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