peckish
Americanadjective
-
somewhat hungry.
By noon we were feeling a bit peckish.
-
rather irritable.
He's always a bit peckish after his nap.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of peckish
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mahaffy, who starred in the exuberant revival of “A Man of No Importance” at A Noise Within last season, is more insistently peckish — hungry rather than hangry.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 9, 2025
And that in whatever jazzy afterlife exists for wayward novelists, they’re up there ashing carelessly into their martinis, and letting ids and peckish wildcats run free.
From New York Times • Nov. 25, 2023
Using infrared sensors, the team watched which landing platforms the peckish mosquitoes chose.
From Science Magazine • May 18, 2023
"It might be a muffin or some biscuits that you could eat in a break just because you felt a bit peckish or to lift your energy a bit," she says.
From BBC • Feb. 25, 2022
“Of course I did,” I snapped, not meaning to adopt my aunt’s peckish ways.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
