Word.ws English Dictionary

hissy

/ˈhɪsi/

hissy adjective: accompanied with hisses.

Adjective

hissy (comparative hissier, superlative hissiest)

  1. Accompanied with hisses.
  2. Making a hissing sound.
    • Each is very inexpensive ($60 per two-pack for the Midland, $100 a pair for the Audiovox), and feels it. Each is also tiny, no bigger than a bar of Ivory. Both are far hissier than their more expensive rivals, and don't have as much range (more on this in a moment).2003 May 8, David Pogue, “STATE OF THE ART; For Two-Way Radios, a Mileage Test”, in The New York Times
    Synonyms:
    hissing
  3. Childish or petulant.
    • Viewers were aghast. . . . As co-host Regis Philbin flinched, Gifford launched into a teary, it's-not-my-fault, TV hissy fit: "You can say I'm ugly, you can say I'm not talented, but when you say I don't care about children, how dare you!"1996 May 13, David E. Thigpen, “If You Could Hear Her Now”, in Time
    • Midwestern-bred and still wholesome despite his exposure to New York’s hissiest, Sam remains the play’s anchor.2016 March 30, Ligaya Mishan, “Jesse Tyler Ferguson Skewers Food Culture on Broadway”, in The New York Times
    Synonyms:
    bad-tempered

Noun

hissy (plural hissies)

  1. (US) A tantrum, a fit.
    • get into a hissy
    Synonyms:
    tantrum

Synonyms of hissy

All synonyms of hissy

Forms of hissy

Adjective
comparativehissier
superlativehissiest
Noun
pluralhissies

Origin of hissy

From hiss + -y.

Words formed from hissy

Phrases with hissy

Words that rhyme with hissy

Questions about hissy

What does hissy mean?
Hissy means accompanied with hisses.
What part of speech is hissy?
Hissy can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce hissy?
Hissy is pronounced /ˈhɪsi/.

Words near hissy in the dictionary

  1. hissingly
  2. hissings
  3. Hissong
  4. Hissongs
  5. Hissrich
  6. hissy
  7. hissy fit
  8. hissy fits
  9. hissy-fit
  10. hissy-fits
  11. hissyfit

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hissy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hissy.wav.

Cite this entry: “hissy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hissy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.