︎utzy adj. uncomfortable, bothered, uneasy. Etymological Note: Probably from the Yiddish utz ‘to tease, bother, nag,’ related to the German uzen ‘to tease, to kid,’ and perhaps reinforced by antsy. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Old. Elderly. Senior. Why are we so uncomfortable when we talk about reaching a certain point in life? An 82-year-old seeks a more positive term to describe how she feels about her age. And: a linguist helps solve a famous kidnapping case, using the...
An alcoholic who’s been sober for 29 years wonders if she’s overly sensitive to the terms non-alcoholic and alcohol-free being used with reference to food and drink. The problem is that alcoholic has more than one meaning. It can refer...
I’m not familiar with the Yiddish word “utz”. Which Yiddish dictionary or thesaurus did you find it in?
I’m not sure which one I pulled it from, but when researching Yiddish words, I tend to consult the following:
Modern English-Yiddish Yiddish English Dictionary, Uriel Weinreich (YIVO, New York, 1968).
Harkavy’s Manual Dictionary (Hebrew Publishing Co., New York, 1894).
Anglish/Yinglish, 2e, Gene Bluestein (U. of Neb. Press, Lincoln, 1998).
Hooray for Yiddish!, Leo Rosten (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1982).
The Joys of Hebrew, Lewis Glinert (Oxford University Press, New York, 1992).
Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, Chaim M. Weiser (Rowman & Littlefield, Maryland, 2004).
The Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary (Oxford University Press, New York, 1998).
Also, the Harper Collins German Dictionary, Unabridged Second Edition (New York, 1995).
Interesting word. My dad often uses the variant “utchly” to describe being mildly ill tempered for no descernable reason. He got it from his mother, who was a first generation American from German parents. I currently use it to warn my husband as in, “Be nice to me; I’m in an utchly mood.” What I’m meaning is, don’t push me or I’ll go from a mildly bad mood to a really bad mood.