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
- prickliness noun
- unprickly adjective
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.
Next is a contemporary analysis of how the negotiation was doomed because Spalding sent Anson, a prickly personality, to do the talking.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Now, talking about the prickly subject at the film’s heart will be that much easier.
From Salon • Apr. 9, 2026
Her performance is staggeringly human, so honest and unvarnished that it immediately calls to mind Meryl Streep’s similarly prickly work in “Sophie’s Choice.”
From Salon • Apr. 3, 2026
Driving around Raub, a small town in Malaysia, it's impossible to miss the prickly fruit that powers its economy.
From BBC • Jan. 10, 2026
Olanna felt a slight irritation, a prickly feeling on her skin.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
