touchy-feely

English

Pronunciation

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Adjective

touchy-feely (comparative more touchy-feely, superlative most touchy-feely)

1. (informal) Having a fondness for physical contact with other people, especially to an excessive degree.

   Coordinate term: huggy

   My last boyfriend was a lovely guy, but I dumped him because he was too touchy-feely with me in public.

   • 2009 April 16, Jon Mooallem, quoting Gretchen Hellar, “The End Is Near! (Yay!)”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Kühnel’s wife, Berta, began by asking everyone to join hands. […] When I asked her later what she made of the exercise, Hellar told me: “First of all, I’m not a good-feelings, touchy-feely kind of person.”

   • 2015 February 23, “Oscars 2015: 10 things we learned”, in The Guardian (London)‎^[2]:

     This time, the actor was in uncomfortably touchy-feely form. First he sidled up behind Scarlett Johansson as she posed on the red carpet, kissed her, and slid his hand around her waist.

2. (idiomatic, usually derogatory) Driven by intuition or emotion, with a connotation of de-emphasis of rational thought or logic.

   He preferred the clarity of science and left the touchy-feely stuff to others.

3. (idiomatic, usually derogatory) Appealing to emotion, sympathy, or romance.

   I think the movie had too much touchy-feely nonsense and not enough action.

Derived terms

• touchy-feeler
• touchy-feeliness