thorny
Americanadjective
-
thornier,
comparative
-
thorniest
superlative
adjective
-
bearing or covered with thorns
-
difficult or unpleasant
a thorny problem
-
sharp
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of thorny
before 1000; Middle English; Old English thornig. See thorn, -y 1
Explanation
Thorny things are either sharp and spiky, like a thorny briar patch, or troublesome and difficult, like a thorny problem. Either way, they can be painful! When you tackle a thorny rosebush, you'll need thick gloves and sharp pruning shears. When you tackle a thorny issue at work or at school, on the other hand, you might need tools like diplomacy and intelligence. This figurative meaning of thorny is useful for describing especially complex or distressing issues, like a thorny political problem that divides a nation.
Vocabulary lists containing thorny
All The Feels: Touching Words For Textures
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 5
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Part 2 Vocabulary (Unit 3)
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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.
See Examples For:
However, it also means having to address thorny issues with the media, which currently include a perceived lack of signings.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
And then having a new build where it is, down the road from their current ground, deals with the potentially thorny problem about where United would play if Old Trafford was closed for a period.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Even if a compromise is found over the fate of the army chief, Fedorov's future remains a thorny question.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Cali Adeline’s debut novel, “People Watching in the Desert,” gives this thorny ethical business an impressively complex treatment for a book that comes on like a beach read.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
In the thorny and sometimes confusing world of America’s masters and enslaved people, did Andrew Jackson have any affection for these men?
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Those who trust these writers’ capabilities with using comic book properties as springboards to examine thornier issues can probably deduce that “Lanterns” is employing it for a specific reason.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
It’s a gauntlet made thornier whenever Murashige, who believes in mercy over violence, engages with Kanbei, chained in a dungeon but with a dangerous mind nonetheless.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
The U.S. and Iran struck a preliminary deal earlier this week that broadly calls for a 60-day cease-fire and pushes some of the conflict’s thornier issues, such as Iran’s uranium stockpiles, to further discussions.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
China, he said, might hope "that will put Trump and his team in a positive frame of mind when they're then discussing more complex, thornier issues".
From Barron's ● May 8, 2026
At present he is plain human, with the world-old malady gnawing at his heart, a pain which threatens to send his cogitations whooping down a thornier and rosier lane than any Buddha ever knew.
From The Lady and Sada San A Sequel to the Lady of the Decoration by Frances Little
Fox is in the camp that believes AI will free lawyers from repetitive tasks and let them focus on the thorniest issues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Whether those talks — which were meant to deal with the thorniest issues between the two countries, including the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program — will go ahead remains unclear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
But negotiations on some of the thorniest issues - including Iran's nuclear programme - will be deferred for 60 days, raising questions about how long this agreement will last.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
The chapter on fisheries, expected to be the thorniest as Iceland is intent on retaining control over its resources, had not been opened.
From Barron's ● Mar. 6, 2026
The Reagan had run afoul of nuclear power’s thorniest problem: radioactive isotopes.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
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.
