Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Ticklish

Tic′klish

,
Adj.
1.
Sensible to slight touches; easily tickled;
as, the sole of the foot is very
ticklish
; the hardened palm of the hand is not
ticklish
.
Bacon.
2.
Standing so as to be liable to totter and fall at the slightest touch; unfixed; easily affected; unstable.
Can any man with comfort lodge in a condition so dismally
ticklish
?
Barrow.
3.
Difficult; nice; critical;
as, a
ticklish
business
.
Surely princes had need, in tender matters and
ticklish
times, to beware what they say.
Bacon.
Tic′klish-ly
,
adv.
Tic′klish-ness
,
Noun.

Webster 1828 Edition


Ticklish

TICK'LISH

,
Adj.
Sensible to slight touches, easily tickled. The bottom of the foot is very ticklish,as are the sides. The palm of the hand, hardened by use, it not ticklish.
1.
Tottering; standing so as to be liable to totter and fall at the slightest touch; unfixed; easily moved or affected.
Ireland was a ticklish and unsettled state.
2.
Difficult; nice; critical; as, these are ticklish times.

Definition 2024


ticklish

ticklish

English

Adjective

ticklish (comparative more ticklish, superlative most ticklish)

  1. Sensitive or susceptible to being tickled.
    She is ticklish only on her tummy and the bottoms of her feet.
  2. Touchy, sensitive, or delicate.
    • 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society 2010, page 162:
      Opening round three, Enderby moved the ticklish issue of whether to advise the Hong Kong government of the intelligence regarding Ko.
    • 2014 September 15, Martin Gayford, “There's more to Ming than a vase [print version: 16 August 2014, pp. R6–R7]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):
      The fact that the Yongle emperor was therefore a usurper, regicide and nepoticide (nephew-killer) made compiling the Veritable Record – or official history – of his reign a most dangerous scholarly post. The official given this ticklish task managed to survive several drafts, finally producing one that pleased his master as it omitted the dead nephew's reign altogether.

Derived terms

Translations