testy

  • 1Testy — Tes ty, a. [Compar. {Testier}; superl. {Testiest}.] [OF. testu obstinate, headstrong, F. t[^e]tu, fr. OF. teste the head, F. t[^e]te. See {Test} a cupel.] Fretful; peevish; petulant; easily irritated. [1913 Webster] Must I observe you? must I… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2testy — index fractious, perverse, petulant, querulous, spiteful Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 3testy — c.1500, impetuous, rash, from M.E. testif headstrong (late 14c.), from Anglo Fr. testif, from O.Fr. testu stubborn, lit. heady, from teste head, from L.L. testa skull, in L. pot, shell (see TESTER (Cf. tester) (2)). Meaning …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4testy — *irascible, choleric, splenetic, touchy, cranky, cross Analogous words: *irritable, peevish, snappish, waspish: hasty, sud den, impetuous (see PRECIPITATE): captious, carping, caviling, faultfinding (see CRITICAL) …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 5testy — [adj] irritable, touchy annoyed, badtempered, cantankerous, captious, choleric, crabbed, cranky*, cross, crotchety, edgy, exasperated, fretful, grouchy, grumpy*, impatient, irascible, mean, ornery*, out of sorts, peevish, peppery, petulant,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 6testy — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ easily irritated; irritable. DERIVATIVES testily adverb testiness noun. ORIGIN originally in the sense «headstrong, impetuous»: from Old French teste head …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7testy — [tes′tē] adj. testier, testiest [ME testif < Anglo Fr < OFr teste, the head < L testa: see TEST1] irritable; touchy; peevish testily adv. testiness n …

    English World dictionary

  • 8testy- — see testi …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 9testy — tes|ty [ˈtesti] adj [Date: 1300 1400; : Anglo French; Origin: testif determined to do what you want , from Old French teste head ] impatient and easily annoyed = ↑irritable ▪ testy remarks ▪ It had been a long day, and Sarah was getting a little… …

    Dictionary of contemporary English

  • 10testy — [14] Testy means etymologically ‘heady’. It was borrowed from Anglo Norman testif, a derivative of Old French teste ‘head’ (ancestor of modern French tête). This in turn went back to Latin testa ‘tile, earthenware pot’ (a relative of testum, from …

    The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins