Deep Breathing? No, There Must Be a Better Way …

Are you frustrated because you can’t find synonyms for itchy?

You’re not alone. Itchy is a ticklish word with few close relatives.

Ogden Nash once said that happiness is having a scratch for every itch. However, happiness for a writer might be finding the perfect synonym for itchy.

You’ll Encounter Snares During Your Hunt

The brain sometimes interprets itchiness as pain and vice versa, because the same chemicals trigger both sensations. Hence terms such as painful itch. When we scratch an itch, pain often replaces the tickly tingling in an instant.

To complicate the situation, scratching or rubbing — rather than a response to a true itch — might indicate disbelief, doubt, insecurity, or uncertainty.

Emotion Beats and Physical Manifestations

Body language provides one solution.

If any of the previously mentioned emotions drives your character, try replacing the itch with appropriate nonverbal responses.

Disbelief
squinting
cocking an eyebrow
narrowing one’s eyes
rolling one’s eyes skyward

Doubt
shrugging
rubbing an eye
twitching one’s nose
shaking one’s head

Insecurity
cupped-palm handshake
fiddling with one’s clothing, jewelry, or hair
keeping hands close to one’s face during dialogue
standing with hands clasped in front of one’s groin area

Uncertainty
frowning
fleeting smile
sitting with crossed ankles
forceful exhalation through pursed lips

If you need additional beats, consult a body language dictionary. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Adjectives (1)

Describe the itch. Adjectives to describe itchiness could include:

A to F
annoying, biting, burning, chronic, constant, crawling, cutaneous, deep, dry, embarrassing, endless, everlasting, excessive, extreme, fierce, fiery, frustrating, furious

I to P
incurable, insatiable, intense, intolerable, irresistible, irritating, maddening, merciless, mild, morbid, nagging, nervous, never-ending, painful, peeling, perpetual, persistent, prickly, profound, prurient

R to T
raw, relentless, runaway, severe, slight, stinging, strong, subcutaneous, sudden, tantalizing, tingly, tormenting, tortuous

U and V
unbearable, unbridled, uncomfortable, uncontrollable, unignorable, unpleasant, unreachable, unrelenting, unscratchable, vague, violent

Invent Adjectives

Lewis Carroll and William Shakespeare coined new words. So can you.

An itch could be goose-bumply, pricklish, tinglish, scritchy, or scratchity.

Put your imagination to work, and then ensure that your context leaves no uncertainty about what the new words mean.

Similes and Metaphors

Capitalize on comparisons. A character could:

feel like [ants, gnats, lice] are crawling into every crevice, crack, and pore

have a neck that itches as though someone is watching

have a throat that burns and itches like it contains an anthill

have arms that itch as though they have been clad in a wool sweater for weeks

have eyes that itch like they haven’t seen sleep in days

have eyes that itch worse than the time the character stayed up all night drinking in a smoke-filled bar

have skin that itches as though ticks are burrowing into it

itch as though being tickled by feathers

itch as though sleeping on a bed of fiberglass

itch as though stung by nettles

itch like a fresh scab waiting to be picked off

itch like a million mites are marching into one’s nose

itch like a scar begging to be scratched

itch worse than the itchiest poison-ivy rash

Show the Itchiness

Have your characters scratch, scrape, scrabble, bite, gnaw, scrub, massage, kneed, or rub the affected body part(s).

Adjectives (2): Replace Itchy

As you review these options, remember that only POV characters can relay sensations. If a person is being viewed by someone else, body language and/or dialogue should show the itchiness.

B to P
bumpy, burning, chafed, chapped, crawling, crawly, flaky, flea-bitten, inflamed, irritated, prickling, prickly

R to U
rash-riddled, scratchy, tickly, tingling, tingly, uncomfortable

Scrutinize the Following Examples and Edits

Example 1

Doris had itchy eyes.

This is an easy one to fix.

Doris rubbed her eyes.

If Doris has allergies, you could make them an integral part of your story, showing her sneezing, avoiding animals or allergens, and talking with a nasal tone.

Example 2

Tom was itchy to find a new client.

In this context, itchy means eager, antsy, or restless. A search in your favorite thesauruses would provide alternatives, or you could show Tom’s motivation:

Tom needed to find a new client before month’s end, or he’d lose his productivity bonus.

If a character’s circumstances are urgent, itchy won’t serve as a suitable adjective.

Example 3

Connie squinted at the phone through dry, itchy eyes.

Stacked modifiers are best avoided. The easiest solution would be to remove itchy from the example. Or we could show the itchy dryness:

Connie squinted at the blurry screen on her phone. She yearned to claw at her dry eyes and quell the burning tickle.

Example 4

Every time Justin entered the public showers without flip-flops, he ended up with itchy athlete’s foot.

The easy solution is to remove itchy. The majority of readers will know what athlete’s foot feels like. Or we could show the itchiness:

Every time Justin entered the public showers without flip-flops, he spent the next few days scratching the fungal infection on his feet.

Example 5

Fred hated the itchy collar on his new coat.

Perhaps itchy isn’t the best adjective in this case. A new coat collar might be better described as prickly or scratchy. Or we could try another approach:

Fred rubbed at the rash caused by the collar on his new coat.

Example 6

Eight days since Marie had shaved her legs. How could anyone live this way? They were so itchy!

The question is good, but the exclamation point? Not so much. We could emphasize the itchiness in another way:

Eight days since Marie had shaved her legs. How could anyone live this way, scratching at stubble and applying calamine lotion every few hours?

Example 7

The relentless, itchy, biting sensation kept Rob awake all night.

More stacked adjectives, and we don’t know what is causing Rob’s distress. His blankets? a rash? a new beard? Let’s reveal the reason:

Rob woke several times during the night and found his stubby fingers scratching, unbidden, at his scruffy six-day-old beard.

Ready to Tackle a Few Exercises?

Remove all instances of itch and itchy in the following.

Exercise 1

As Zach stared at his itchy, bumpy face in the mirror, he applied alcohol to the red welts, flinching with each dab. How could he have been so stupid?

[What caused the welts? Mosquitoes? bedbugs? spiders? perhaps something unexpected or imaginative?]

Exercise 2

The ginger cat felt horribly itchy. But he could never resist rolling in catnip, no matter how allergic he was to the sweet-smelling, addictive stuff.

[How can the writer know how the cat feels? POV problem. However, this approach might work for children’s books, or fantasy where cats think like humans.]

Exercise 3

Nathan stepped out from behind the curtain and glanced at the audience. Then his gaze was drawn, inexorably, to his exposed skin. Itchy hives glared up at him under the blazing floodlights.

He resisted the urge to scratch, at least for now, and cleared his throat. “O calamine, calamine. Wherefore art thou, calamine?”

[Why does Nathan have hives? Can you turn this into a humorous soliloquy?]

Exercise 4

Maddie twitched her itchy nose. A vase above the fireplace fizzled and transformed into a black cat. She scowled. “Darn, I’ve done it again.”

Although her torturous itch begged to be scratched, she scooped up the confused feline. “Sorry, Tobias, I have to send you back.”

The cat hissed and twitched his tail. “No way you’re gonna send me back there.” He bounded out of Maddie’s arms and into the kitchen faster than she could blink.

[These two characters share previous history. Can you include backstory without boring readers?]