touchyadj.

1602 T. Lodge tr. Josephus Hist. Antiq. Iewes xvii. viii, in tr. Josephus Wks. 447 Hauing lost all hope of recouerie..he became verie tutchie and froward [L. irae impatiens & amarulentus] in whatsoeuer his affaires.

1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Maides Trag. iii. sig. G2^v Y'are touchie without all cause.

1656 H. Jeanes Treat. Fulnesse of Christ 79 in Mixture Scholasticall Divinity If earthly Potentates be so tender, and touchy in the point of their Embassadours honour and safety.

1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi i. ii. 7/1 Avoid all Discoveries of a Touchy Humour.

1757 P. Bacon Moral Quack 35 You are so very touchy, that there is no such thing as holding a conversation safely with you.

1843 G. W. Le Fevre Life Trav. Physician I. i. viii. 170 She was most touchy upon the subject of age.

1867 C. W. Scott in A. Halliday Savage-Club Papers 128 ‘Kept your doubloon!’ I said, rather irritated, for I must own that I am rather of a touchy disposition.

1938 A. Berkeley Not to be Taken i. 8 John, like all hale men in late middle age, was a trifle touchy about his health.

1976 D. K. Gray Women of West ii. 25 In addition to a very touchy ego, he was not good under stress and was prone to pettiness and bickering.

2004 E. Gold Hard 33 She is notoriously touchy and can get offended very quickly if she senses any hint of criticism.

1620 H. Wotton Let. 7 Sept. in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1672) 500 In such a touchy time as this, I had almost had my share.

1689 J. Collier Moral Ess. conc. Pride 51 You are upon a touchy Point, and therefore I hope you will treat so nice a subject..with proportionable caution.

1773 E. Lloyd Epist. to D. Garrick 21 In these touchy times, Where airy Dreams 'gainst Majesty are Crimes.

1862 Sat. Rev. 18 Oct. 463/1 That he should have kept strictly within the domain of common-place on the touchy topic of education may be ascribed..to ignorance or to indifference.

1884 Graphic 15 Nov. 518/2 These were, of course, very touchy subjects to ask of courtiers.

1957 Boys' Life Mar. 57/1 ‘When the air is bumpy, it gets pretty touchy up there,’ Gordon remarks.

1994 Amer. Spectator Dec. 52/1 Political bias is a touchy subject among journalists, most of whom deny its existence.

1809 Examiner 2 Apr. 223/1 The soft gradations of cloud, the touchy foliage of the trees..are accurately characterized.

1839 W. A. Chatto Treat. Wood Engraving viii. 649 The drawing, which originally may have been clear and touchy, loses its brightness, and becomes indistinct from its frequent contact with the soft pliable paper.

1898 Artist Sept. 49/1 There are shown some dozen or two scale designs, mostly slight, ‘touchy’ sketches.

1930 Bull. City Art Mus. St. Louis 15 48/1 The miniature the Museum has acquired is a ‘touchy’ drawing of a gray lady in white and light blue.

2000 D. Kuspit Redeeming Art ii. 228 The ‘touchy’ way they are painted.

1878 G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie xiv, in Manch. Weekly Times 26 Oct. Suppl. 338/2 As if some gentle hand had..dipped them, just a tiny touchy dip, in a molten ruby.

1982 N.Y. Times 10 Oct. xxii. 17/1 She tells..of one young woman whose habit of flailing her arms and being ‘too touchy’ with her hands prevented her from making friends.

1993 N.Y. Mag. 9 Aug. 41/2 He was very bright and caring and tactile, a very touchy kind of person.

2000 Hull Daily Mail (Nexis) 4 Oct. 12 It is very touchy, very hands-on, and hairdressers tend to be like that anyway.

1666 J. Smith Γηροκομία Βασιλικὴ To Rdr. sig. A iij^v The Author..is himself as willing, as any touchy-headed Decryers of Anatomy and Anatomists..that all the shame..should return upon his own pate.

1675 E. Wilson Spadacrene Dunelmensis Pref. sig. B5^v Those touchy headed Chymists, who pretend to Panacæa's, Universal Medicines, Secrets, and such like whimsical Remedies.