as in irritable
easily irritated or annoyed
extremely waspish, she uses her wit viciously when irritated
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Recent Examples of waspish
After some increasingly waspish bickering between Aleida and Irina, the group manages to agree once more on the importance of the Space Elevator and Titan mission succeeding unaffected by the ongoing protests.
—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
24 Apr. 2026
Spitting Image has delivered a typically waspish response after Deadline revealed this week that the show had been served with a lawsuit by the owners of Paddington Bear.
—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
10 Oct. 2025
But what a response — a performance full of waspish pressing, muscular defending and precise, efficient counters.
—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
In contrast to her expansive mate, Toklas was a waspish temple gatekeeper who never ceased to hold grudges.
—
Judith Thurman,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
24 Apr. 2026
Spitting Image has delivered a typically waspish response after Deadline revealed this week that the show had been served with a lawsuit by the owners of Paddington Bear.
—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
10 Oct. 2025
But what a response — a performance full of waspish pressing, muscular defending and precise, efficient counters.
—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
In contrast to her expansive mate, Toklas was a waspish temple gatekeeper who never ceased to hold grudges.
—
Judith Thurman,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waspish
Adjective
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The symptoms are so delayed that people often blame them on food poisoning, irritable-bowel syndrome, gluten intolerance.
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Cancer could be affectionate and chatty one moment, and withdrawn and irritable the next, with little to no explanation.
Adjective
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Our previous card featured the fiery destruction of the Missouri Pacific depot in 1909.
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And the hottest of the bunch, the green, is a fiery combination of both jalapeños and green habaneros.
Cite this Entry
“Waspish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waspish. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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