tetched

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Variant of touched.

Adjective

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tetched (comparative more tetched, superlative most tetched)

  1. (chiefly US, colloquial) Touched: mildly deranged, somewhat mentally dysfunctional.
    • 1889, Laura E. Richards, chapter 9, in Queen Hildegarde:
      "His mind was as keen as a razor, an' as straight-edged, 'xcept jest on one subject. On that he was, so to say, a little—wal—a little tetched."
    • 1959 April 21, Ann Landers, "Oh Why Can't He See 'Dawn's Early Light'?, St. Petersburg Times (USA) (retrieved 26 June 2012):
      Just because he has trouble with the last verse of the Star Spangled Banner doesn't mean he's tetched. Maybe he has a mental block because you've been hammering him over the skull for three years about it.
    • 1982 Sep. 27, Mary Cantwell, "Books Of The Times" (review of Goosefoot by Patrick McGinley), New York Times (retrieved 26 June 2012):
      There's a murderer about, but how can you spot him when everyone is moon-tetched?
  2. (chiefly US, colloquial) Touched: physically contacted, impacted, or handled.
    • 1899, Bret Harte, “Dick Spindler's Family Christmas”, in Mr. Jack Hamlin's Mediation and Other Stories:
      "They ain't bin tetched or handled by any one but the Kempany's agents."
    • c. 1900, O. Henry, The Reformation Of Calliope:
      "That bullet never tetched ye!"

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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References

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  • tetched”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.