Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- In a testy manner; fretfully; peevishly; with petulance.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb In the manner of someone who is
testy .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb in a petulant manner
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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“Bird?” he called testily, starting to shuffle away.
The Will Reed Arvin 2000
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“Bird?” he called testily, starting to shuffle away.
The Will Reed Arvin 2000
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Sam blinked at his page, x-ed out one name testily, and put in the other.
The Tiger in the Smoke Allingham, Margery, 1904-1966 1952
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"Well, I know this," testily, "that I am not to be instructed as to the sort of person I can ask to my house."
The Trumpeter Swan Temple Bailey
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Kim Howells, Labour foreign office minister, delivered a "stern message" to the Ghanaian government in October 2007 about its lack of co-operation and responded "testily" to a request from Ghana's interior minister for more scanning equipment, saying "if a 'criminal' is operating equipment, it is worthless,"
The Guardian World News Robert Booth 2010
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"Th 'owd Parson!" testily; "I ha 'no patience wi' him.
That Lass O' Lowrie's 1877 Frances Hodgson Burnett 1886
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"Th 'owd parson!" testily; "I ha 'no patience wi' him.
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NEW ORLEANS -- The game, Nick Saban insisted rather testily the day before, was never about him.
Nick Saban Leads Alabama To BCS Championship Over LSU The Huffington Post News Editors 2012
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NEW ORLEANS -- The game, Nick Saban insisted rather testily the day before, was never about him.
Nick Saban Leads Alabama To BCS Championship Over LSU The Huffington Post News Editors 2012
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“What personal attacks?” he had asked testily, and not waiting for an answer demanded she identify “just one of my speeches or one of our ads that made a personal attack on Governor Morrison.”
O: A Presidential Novel Anonymous 2011
yarb commented on the word testily
I could not see what he did with the poles. I became irascible. I wanted to demand testily of him 'Account for your poles, sir!'
- Peter Reading, C, 1984
August 2, 2008