Ticklier

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. More prone to laughing or squirming when touched lightly ; more awkward, delicate or requiring careful handling
2. Easier to set off into giggles when stroked lightly ; more tricky, sensitive or in need of tactful management
3. More responsive to light touch that provokes laughter ; more problematic and requiring extra care to deal with

Etymology: "Ticklier" is simply the comparative of "tickly," meaning more easily tickled, or more ticklish. It is formed from "tickle" with the adjective-making suffix "-y," which English has attached to countless nouns and verbs, and the comparative ending "-ier" follows the usual pattern for adjectives ending in "-y," where the "y" becomes "i" before the ending is added. The base "tickle" goes back to Middle English, where it was a verb meaning to touch lightly so as to cause laughter or twitching. Its ancestry runs back through Old English and Proto-Germanic to Proto-Indo-European roots, but the word's real life in English is in its physical sense of light touching and the involuntary reaction it provokes.

Synonyms: itchy, prickly, ticklish