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
-
full of difficulties; knotty
a prickly problem
Other Word Forms
- prickliness noun
- unprickly adjective
Etymology
Origin of prickly
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.
He twined round Nim’s feet in a prickly hug.
From Literature
Francis bravely doesn’t soften Sally’s prickly nature, but she doesn’t give us much reason to sympathize with her character either.
From Los Angeles Times
On Camino Escalante, Guthrie’s squat, orange brick house is set back from the road behind a lawn planted with prickly pear, agave, cholla and yucca.
“It’s too prickly. The branches scratch my cheek.”
From Literature
As a result, suit tampering has long been a prickly issue…
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.
