high-strung
Prone to nerves
High-strung describes a temperament that's tense, easily agitated, or quick to react.
A high-strung person may be anxious, irritable, or overly sensitive to stress: She's too high-strung to handle criticism well.
High-strung animals, especially horses and dogs, are nervous and excitable.
The term suggests tautness—like a string wound too tight.
Troubled by uncertainty
- tenseStrained or nervous
- edgyTense and irritable
- jitteryAnxiously restless
- wound-upNervously tense, overwrought
on-edge · overwrought · stressed · uneasy · restless · agitated · frazzled · nervous
Easily upset, unpredictable
- touchyEasily upset or offended
- reactiveTending to respond
- thin-skinnedEasily hurt by remarks
- hypersensitiveExcessively reactive to stimuli
emotional · delicate · volatile · moody · irritable · snappy · prickly · oversensitive
anxious
Troubled by uncertainty
wound-up · on-edge · overwrought · stressed · uneasy · restless · agitated · frazzled · nervous · worried
temperamental
Easily upset, unpredictable
- touchyEasily upset or offended
- reactiveTending to respond
- thin-skinnedEasily hurt by remarks
hypersensitive · emotional · delicate · volatile · moody · irritable · snappy · prickly · oversensitive · excitable
spirited
Full of vim
- livelyAnimated and energetic
- animatedFull of life, or drawn moving
- vivaciousAttractively energetic and enthusiastic
excitable · intense · dynamic · exuberant · peppy · vibrant · effervescent · fizzy · bubbly · sparky
- emotionaldramatic, hysterical, weepy, tearful, melodramatic
- slang traitsbossy, brainy, bubbly, chatty, cheeky
- excitabilityexcitability, nervousness, jitteriness, jumpiness, restlessness
- reactivereactive, excitable, volatile, jumpy, jittery
- temperamentscholeric, phlegmatic, melancholic, sanguine, introvert
- overwhelmedstressed, overwhelmed, stressed out, burnt out, burned out