testy

Middle English testif (“headstrong”), from Old French testu, from teste (“head”) + -u. Compare modern French tête (“head”), têtu (“stubborn”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛsti/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛsti

testy (comparative testier, superlative testiest)

1. Easily annoyed, irritable.
2. Marked by impatience or ill humor.

   He made testy remarks.

   • 2022 August 24, Kevin Roose, “We Need to Talk About How Good A.I. Is Getting”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Otherwise, we could end up with a repeat of what happened with social media companies after the 2016 election — a collision of Silicon Valley power and Washington ignorance, which resulted in nothing but gridlock and testy hearings.

• touchy
• tetchy

• testily
• testiness

• heady
• teston

• Setty, tyets, yetts