Startlish is an adjective that means ‘easily startled.’

The Old English word ‘start’ provides the basis of our word of the day as well as the word startle. Startlish refers to someone inclined to be startled. It is a synonym of the word skittish. Here’s an example of it in use:

My sister’s startlish behavior made her a perfect victim for my scary pranks. When she’d object to my shenanigans, I’d tell there that if she wasn’t so easily terrified, I wouldn’t have spent so much time terrifying her.