Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Irritated, impatient, or exasperated; peevish: a testy cab driver; a testy refusal to help.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Irritable; irascible; choleric; cross; petulant.
- Synonyms Pettish, touchy, waspish, snappish, peevish, splenetic, captious, peppery.
Wiktionary
- adj. easily annoyed, irritable
- adj. marked by impatience or ill humor
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Fretful; peevish; petulant; easily irritated.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. easily irritated or annoyed
Etymologies
- Alteration of Middle English testif, headstrong, from Old French testu, from teste, head, from Late Latin testa, skull; see teston.
Examples
“She seems to think getting testy is that same as showing strength.”
State of the Race: Steve Poizner (R CAND, CA-GOV). | RedState
“She comes back, a little testy: "Pollo is the Spanish word for CHICKEN!”
“I especially loved the way she said "testy" - a defining Venetian characteristic”
“Mr. Benn described as testy an exchange of letters between the two leaders over the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty.”
“There was only one moment where it approached 'testy' and I swear I saw a set of rolled eyeballs.”
“Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.) described the meeting as "testy," and Sen. John Thune (S.D.) called it a "lively discussion.”
The Washington Post: At President Obama's talks with Senate Republicans, little is accomplished
“Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), on the other hand, called the meeting "testy," while Sen. John Thune (R-S. D.) gave it the less conflictual title of a "lively discussion.”
The Huffington Post: Republicans Say 'Thin Skinned' Obama Should 'Take A Valium'
“Roseanne Barr: Being hated and hunted and blamed for your own suffering makes people kind of testy, nervous, and on edge, and often fundamentalist and extreme.”
“I have to say that while I find her periodically "testy", shall we say, I dare say that I myself would be "testy" on a fairly regular basis were I working every day with the City Hall crowd.”
“As promised below, here's our longer post, with video, about ABC's report yesterday on Obama's allegedly "testy" exchange with a reporter in South Carolina. print share”
uselessness *unless you're trying an expeeryment. Oct 5, 2007
reesetee Never enter uselessness' Land of Madeupical Science without a map. Oct 5, 2007
uselessness It's science!! Oct 4, 2007
reesetee That'll learn me. Never enter uselessness' Land of Madeupical Etymologies without a map. Oct 4, 2007
uselessness On the contrary, there's a proven correlation. Science said it, history proved it, and I vouched for it. The connection is so real, etymology doesn't know about it yet. But it's pretty much indisputable fact amongst educated people. Some groups have even organized their own religions around this unwavering truth. You bet your buttons, you can totally bank on it. Oct 4, 2007
reesetee Don't think so, arby, though I'm not positive. I think testy is from the Latin (and later, Italian and French) for "head"--so "headstrong," more or less.
There's an interesting word history for testis here. Oct 4, 2007
arby D'you suppose this is related to testes? (cf. testicular and the brilliant testiculate) Oct 4, 2007