😠 To irritate 😠 Easily annoyed

tetch

9.9

Easily annoyed and quick to get angry

adjective
/tɛtʃ/

: irritable

After a sleepless night, she was noticeably tetch with her coworkers.

Examples

Don't be so tetch about the small things!
The children knew to avoid their tetch uncle when he was tired.
He grew tetch when the meeting ran longer than expected.
She was feeling a bit tetch after a long day at work.
After a long flight, he became quite tetch and snapped at the staff.
She was a little tetch today because she hadn't had her coffee yet.
Everyone knew to be careful around him when he was feeling tetch.

Synonyms

huffy

vstetch

5 5.9

Quick to feel annoyed or offended by small remarks

is more generally irritable rather than focused on taking offense

tetchy

vstetch

1 8.1

Being easily annoyed by small things

is more broadly irritable rather than only upset by small things

Antonyms

calm

735 1.0

Not showing strong feelings and being very still

patient

343 1.9

Able to stay calm and not get annoyed when waiting

How Irritable

irascible

Formal

5 8.6

irritable

32 3.7

testy

32 7.2

tetch

9.9

touchy

33 4.9

Surface Forms

tetch positive

Etymology

Tetch probably comes from an old word like touch, which means 'to touch'. So, someone who is tetch is 'easily annoyed' because small things quickly 'touch' (bother) them.