Meanings
touching1
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of touch
comparative more touching · superlative most touching
- In direct contact with.
Synonyms: pertingent, juxtacrine
- Regarding; concerning.
Now as touching things offered vnto idoles, wee know that wee all haue knowledge.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 8:11 more example
Every time I ascended to the deck from my watches below, I instantly gazed aft to mark if any strange face were visible ; for my first vague disquietude touching the unknown captain, now in the seclusion of the sea, became almost a perturbation.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 28, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 134
touching2
plural touchings
- The act by which something is touched.
But we can also take a more analytical attitude to these displays, interpreting the movements as no more than approachings, touchings, and departings with no implication that one shape caused the other to move.
2011, Lance J. Rips, Lines of Thought: Central Concepts in Cognitive Psychology, page 168 - Indiain pluralA snack served with alcoholic drinks in an informal environment.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveProvoking sadness and pity; that can cause sadness or heartbreak among witnesses to a sad event or situation.
adjectiveIn direct contact with.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe event of something coming in contact with the body
nounthe act of putting two things together with no space between them
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
touching · verb, adjective, preposition
- Middle Englishtouchynge
- Englishtouching
From Middle English touchynge, equivalent to touch + -ing.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →touching · noun
- Middle Englishtouching
- Englishtouching
From Middle English touching, touchinge, touchynge, equivalent to touch + -ing.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُؤَثِّر, لَمْس
- مُؤَثِّر (muʔaṯṯir)provoking sadness and pity
- لَمْس (lams)The act by which something is touched
Bulgarian трога́телен, докосване
- трога́телен (trogátelen)provoking sadness and pity
- докосване (dokosvane)The act by which something is touched
Chinese Mandarin 感人, 使……感動 /使……感动
- 感人 (gǎnrén)provoking sadness and pity
- 使……感動 /使……感动 (shǐ ... gǎndòng)provoking sadness and pity
Czech dojemný
- dojemnýprovoking sadness and pity
Danish rørende
- rørendeprovoking sadness and pity
Dutch roerend
- roerendprovoking sadness and pity
Finnish liikuttava, koskettava
- liikuttavaprovoking sadness and pity
- koskettavaprovoking sadness and pity
French touchant
- touchantprovoking sadness and pity
German rührend, anrührend
- rührendprovoking sadness and pity
- anrührendprovoking sadness and pity
- ergreifendprovoking sadness and pity
Greek συγκινητικός
- συγκινητικός (sygkinitikós)provoking sadness and pity
Hungarian megható, megindító
- meghatóprovoking sadness and pity
- megindítóprovoking sadness and pity
Irish corraitheach
- corraitheachprovoking sadness and pity
Italian commovente, toccante
- commoventeprovoking sadness and pity
- toccanteprovoking sadness and pity
Japanese 感動的な
- 感動的な (kandōteki na)provoking sadness and pity
Korean 감동적
- 감동적 (gamdongjeok)provoking sadness and pity
Latin flexanimus
- flexanimusprovoking sadness and pity
Māori whakaaroharoha, whakaaroha
- whakaaroharohaprovoking sadness and pity
- whakaarohaprovoking sadness and pity
Norwegian Bokmål rørende
- rørendeprovoking sadness and pity
Polish wzruszający
- wzruszającyprovoking sadness and pity
Portuguese tocante
- tocanteprovoking sadness and pity
Russian тро́гательный
- тро́гательный (trógatelʹnyj)provoking sadness and pity
Slovak dojímavý, dojemný
- dojímavýprovoking sadness and pity
- dojemnýprovoking sadness and pity
Spanish enternecedor, conmovedor
- enternecedorprovoking sadness and pity
- conmovedorprovoking sadness and pity
- emotivoprovoking sadness and pity
Swedish rörande, känslosam
- rörandeprovoking sadness and pity
- känslosamprovoking sadness and pity
Turkish hüzünlü, hazin
- hüzünlüprovoking sadness and pity
- hazinprovoking sadness and pity
- dokunaklıprovoking sadness and pity
- dokunuşThe act by which something is touched
Ukrainian звору́шливий
- звору́шливий (zvorúšlyvyj)provoking sadness and pity
Vietnamese cảm động
- cảm độngprovoking sadness and pity
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with touching
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
touching. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/touching
“touching.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/touching. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “touching,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/touching.
Source: touching on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.