tetchier
Increasingly short-tempered
Tetchier is the comparative form of tetchy, meaning more irritable or easily annoyed.
Someone who hasn't slept becomes tetchier than usual.
The word carries a sense of peevish, thin-skinned sensitivity: He gets tetchier as the day wears on.
More common in British than American English.
More ill-tempered
- testierMore easily annoyed
- touchierMore easily irritated
- snappierMore lively or terse
- grouchierMore bad-tempered
pricklier · waspish · peevish · petulant · fractious · irascible · cantankerous · querulous
Easily hurt by remarks
- hypersensitiveExcessively reactive to stimuli
- pricklySpiny or irritable
- defensiveProtective or easily threatened
- huffyEasily offended, sulky
bristly · temperamental · volatile · moody · delicate · reactive · susceptible
crankier
More ill-tempered
grouchier · pricklier · waspish · peevish · petulant · fractious · irascible · cantankerous · querulous · cross
thin-skinned
Easily hurt by remarks
- hypersensitiveExcessively reactive to stimuli
- pricklySpiny or irritable
- defensiveProtective or easily threatened
huffy · bristly · temperamental · volatile · moody · delicate · reactive · susceptible
edgier
More tense or provocative
jittery · on-edge · overwrought · keyed-up · antsy · twitchy · agitated · restless · fidgety · wound-up