knobbly
Britishadjective
Explanation
If something's lumpy and misshapen, you can describe it as knobbly. Don't throw out those knobbly potatoes from your garden — they're ugly, but they'll taste perfectly fine! If a camper pitches her tent over a bumpy patch of ground, she'll feel all of those knobbly roots and rocks through her sleeping bag later. This adjective, a variation on knobby, comes from knob, "rounded lump or bump." That gnarled oak tree in your yard is knobbly, and so are your little sister's bony knees.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They would feel just like a sticker, while patches with a silicon-based chip always feel knobbly.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024
The charity said Knobble's nickname was due to a "knobbly nubbin" on top of his dorsal fin.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2023
As juveniles, the color of their thick, knobbly skin changes to match their surroundings, helping to conceal them from predators.
From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2022
To that end, tactile paving was developed—plates of knobbly bumps that feel different both under the feet and at the end of a white cane.
From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2022
Once or twice I stopped to watch, admiring and envious while the stones broke obediently to the right size under their skilful blows and the knobbly heaps before them grew.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
