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Showing results for knobby. Search instead for knobbiest.
Synonyms

knobby

American  
[nob-ee] / ˈnɒb i /

adjective

knobbier, knobbiest
  1. full of or covered with knobs.

    the knobby trunk of a tree.

  2. shaped like a knob.


knobby British  
/ ˈnɒbɪ /

adjective

  1. having or covered with small knobs; knobbly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of knobby

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


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:

He fidgets with a pair of eyeglasses and points a knobby index finger to underscore a point, jiggles his leg restlessly and, at one point, mimes playing guitar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Suddenly the muffin feels like it’s shrugging into a velvet robe and wool slippers, pausing at the window to take in a field of knobby pines.

From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2025

“That’s good,” he said, before pointing a knobby finger at me.

From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2024

It’s dawn, and someone is crouching near the rows, cutting heads of lettuce, pulling up a few carrots, unearthing a white knobby thing and bringing it all indoors.

From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 2024

McGuinty braces his knobby hands on the edge of the table.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

He says that the horn-encrusted brow of T. imperator consisted of spindle-shaped lumps while T. rex’s horns were knobbier.

From New York Times ● Jul. 25, 2022

The Martian was a twisting, squirming, raging, biting, clawing, kicking wild tangle of knobby knees and knobbier elbows.

From The Next Time We Die by Robert Moore Williams

He looked larger and knobbier than ever and, if anything, more embarrassed.

From At Good Old Siwash by George Fitch

With an unerring eye the vendor pounced on the smallest and knobbiest apple in the tray and offered that.

From The Deaves Affair by Hulbert Footner

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