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
businessSurely 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.
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)
- Sensitive or susceptible to being tickled.
- She is ticklish only on her tummy and the bottoms of her feet.
- 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.
- 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society 2010, page 162:
Derived terms
Translations
sensitive or susceptible to tickling
|
delicate
|