knobby

[nob-ee]

adjective

knobbier, knobbiest 

1. full of or covered with knobs.

   the knobby trunk of a tree.

2. shaped like a knob.

ˈknobby

/ ˈnɒbɪ /

adjective

1. having or covered with small knobs; knobbly

Other Word Forms

• knobbiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of knobby¹

First recorded in 1535–45; knob + -y ¹

Example Sentences

“These are nothing more than knobby, ugly, dirty turnips. I asked for beautiful and frightfully expensive tulips.”

Read more on Literature

Then she took the lighter from her tool belt and held a flame under the branch’s knobby end until it was blazing.

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Celeriac — the knobby, subterranean root of the celery plant — makes an especially luxurious purée after a simmer in stock and dairy.

Read more on Salon

Striding forward, his sturdy right hand clutches a knobby wooden walking stick, cut from a tree branch and stripped.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

On a recent drive north of Sacramento, I spotted a row of knobby peaks that looked more like a children’s book illustration than real-life mountains.

Read more on New York Times