as in irritability
readiness to show annoyance or impatience
attributed his unusual testiness this morning to being hungry
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Recent Examples of testiness
Corbett said the testiness started in Florida and returned with the team to Charlotte.
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Joseph Person, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for testiness
Noun
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While largely benign, motion sickness can be highly unpleasant — often causing nausea, vomiting, and dizziness, as well as sweating, headache, and irritability in some cases.—
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Flu can impact children differently and present more general symptoms like irritability and general fussiness, or ear and stomach pain.—
Noun
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His reckless decision to escalate the aggression and number of immigration agents is a causal factor, regardless of the outcome of an investigation into this tragic death.—
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When the music dissolves into an ethereal, ambient soundscape and a psychedelic, spiritual journey, that’s where finding the right amount of energy, aggression, violence, and grief, to support the story and to explain things that the dialog couldn’t, was the most challenging part.—
Cite this Entry
“Testiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/testiness. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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