View synonyms for prickly

prickly

[ prik-lee ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

, prick·li·er, prick·li·est.

prickly

/ ˈprɪklɪ /

Origin of prickly¹

First recorded in 1570–80; prickle + -y ¹

She used electrolysis to banish the prickly hair from her delicate face.

Much of the explanation is personal—the reserved, sometimes prickly politico has never been well-liked.

I missed Don's chiseled mug and Roger's blithe wisecracks and Peggy's prickly chutzpah.

Children are not idealized: they are resourceful but prickly, cunning but confused.

Music critic and former MTV News anchor Kurt Loder pays tribute to the prickly, brilliant Velvet Underground front man.

With a prickly heat suffusing my whole body and a melting sensation at the collar I struggled through the wretched lyric once.

It bears beautiful yellow blossoms in summer, after which comes the fruit, a prickly pear, not good to eat.

Another kind of cactus has crimson and scarlet blossoms, but no prickly pears.

"That's right, too," agreed Mollie, a prickly sensation of pure fright tickling the roots of her hair.

In a few years the girl he had married would be a plain and prickly little pedant—ill-bred besides—and he knew it.

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