Meanings
comparative testier · superlative testiest
- Easily annoyed, irritable.
- Marked by impatience or ill humor.
He made testy remarks.
1 more example
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.
2022 August 24, Kevin Roose, “We Need to Talk About How Good A.I. Is Getting”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveeasily irritated or annoyed
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchtestu
- Englishtesty
Middle English testif (“headstrong”), from Old French testu, from teste (“head”) + -u. Compare modern French tête (“head”), têtu (“stubborn”).
More words from Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian сприхав, раздразнителен
- сприхав (sprihav)irritable
- раздразнителен (razdraznitelen)irritable
Czech nedůtklivý, popudlivý
- nedůtklivýirritable
- popudlivýirritable
German reizbar
- reizbarirritable
Māori whanewhane, kiriweti
- whanewhaneirritable
- kiriwetiirritable
Portuguese irascível, irritadiço
- irascívelirritable
- irritadiçoirritable
Russian раздражи́тельный, вспыльчивый
- раздражи́тельный (razdražítelʹnyj)irritable
- вспыльчивый (vspylʹčivyj)irritable
Swedish retlig
- retligirritable
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with testy
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
testy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/testy
“testy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/testy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “testy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/testy.
Source: testy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.