touchy
/ˈtʌt͡ʃi/adjective, verb
touchy is spelled T-O-U-C-H-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, touchy means “Extremely sensitive or volatile; easily disturbed to the point of becoming unstable; requiring caution or tactfulness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in touchy?
| Letters | 6: T-O-U-C-H-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 24,170th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is touchy?
Touchy appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce touchy?
- /ˈtʌt͡ʃi/
Touchy has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-touchy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of touchy
- touchier comparative
- touchiest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does touchy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Extremely sensitive or volatile; easily disturbed to the point of becoming unstable; requiring caution or tactfulness.
It is an extremely touchy situation, with everybody's patience wearing thin.
- 2
Easily offended, oversensitive.
He can be very touchy when you talk about his estranged son, so be as tactful as possible.
- 3
informalInclined to engage in physical touch.
verb
- 1
To touch.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Touchy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | irascible , susceptible |
| German | heikel, empfindlich , gereizt, reizbar, übelnehmerisch |
| Spanish | touchy , quisquilloso, picajoso, picajón, picón |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).