Hissy
/ˈhɪsi/noun
Informal: showing or characterized by a hiss or a fit of petulant anger.
Did you know?Hissy is an English formation from hiss + -y, and its older cousin hiss goes back to an Old English imitative word, showing how a simple snake-like sound became a label for irritation and venomous attitude.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
hīssian
“to hiss”
Middle English
ME
hiss(e)
“to make a sharp sibilant sound”
Late 16th Century
English
hissy
“hissing; full of hissing or contemptuous sound”
19th Century
English
hissy fit
“a fit of anger or petulance accompanied by hissing or shrill protest”
Modern English
English
hissy
“informal: petulant, irritable, or marked by hissing”