tetchily

adjective, tetch·i·er, tetch·i·est.

1. irritable; touchy.

adjective tetchier or tetchiest

1. being or inclined to be cross, irritable, or touchy

adj.“easily irritated,” 1592, teachie, in “Romeo & Juliet” I.iii.32; of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle English tatch “a mark, quality,” derived via Old French from Vulgar Latin *tecca, from a Germanic source akin to Old English tacen (see token).