ticklish
adjUK /ˈtɪk(ə)lɪʃ/
Etymology From tickle + -ish.
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.
- That was the funeral oration of one friend and client; and he could not help a certain apprehension lest the good name of another should be sucked down in the eddy of the scandal. It was, at least, a ticklish decision that he had to make; and self-reliant as he was by habit, he began to cherish a longing for advice.1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 5, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde:
- Opening round three, Enderby moved the ticklish issue of whether to advise the Hong Kong government of the intelligence regarding Ko.1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 162:
1 more example
- 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.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):
- Derived terms
- ticklishly, ticklishness, unticklish