adjective
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having or covered with prickles
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stinging or tingling
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bad-tempered or irritable
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full of difficulties; knotty
a prickly problem
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prickly
Explanation
Prickly things are sharp and spiky, while prickly people are quick to be offended or irritated. Ouch! A prickly tag in the collar of your new shirt can make you uncomfortable all day, and so can a prickly co-worker whose feelings seem to get hurt by everything you say. Porcupines and cactuses are prickly, and so is the next-door neighbor who is constantly irritated with you. The first thing that was described as prickly, in the 1570s, was a holly leaf.
Vocabulary lists containing prickly
"American Names"
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"Terrible Things"
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Spelling Practice, Unit 5
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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.
Hundreds visit the town each August for the Prickly Pear Festival, with cactus fruit ice cream and margaritas.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 29, 2023
Prickly and volatile, both are quick to take offense and just as quick to offer absolution.
From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2023
Repurchasing Christophe’s $71 Prickly Pear mask every few months can be downright upsetting.
From Slate • Feb. 11, 2019
Hammond called the emails “the Gene Drive Files,” which he posted on his website, Prickly Research.
From Science Magazine • Dec. 11, 2017
“Proud. Poor. Prickly where their honor is concerned but fierce fighters.”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
