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Synonyms

thistly

American  
[this-lee, -uh-lee] / ˈθɪs li, -ə li /

adjective

  1. filled with or having many thistles.

  2. suggesting a growth of thistles, especially in being difficult or painful to handle.

    a thistly set of problems.


Etymology

Origin of thistly

First recorded in 1590–1600; thistle + -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.

“Eddington,” Ari Aster’s twisty and thistly modern-day western, is set in New Mexico during that first hot and crazy summer of the pandemic.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2025

And this was before you got to his extended blurb on the inside jacket: “Fear of Flying stands as a notably luxuriant and glowing bloom in the sometimes thistly garden of ‘raised’ feminine consciousness.”

From The Guardian • Aug. 6, 2014

Yet defining what it means to be courageous has often proved as thistly as distinguishing the wise ones from the fools.

From New York Times • Jan. 3, 2011

On the Feast of St. Francis, the townspeople leave a hoarded egg white and the thistly cardoon as an offering.

From Time Magazine Archive

As he searched, he carefully avoided the thistly Devil’s Club.

From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen

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