thorny
Americanadjective
-
thornier,
comparative
-
thorniest
superlative
adjective
-
bearing or covered with thorns
-
difficult or unpleasant
a thorny problem
-
sharp
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of thorny
before 1000; Middle English; Old English thornig. See thorn, -y 1
Explanation
Thorny things are either sharp and spiky, like a thorny briar patch, or troublesome and difficult, like a thorny problem. Either way, they can be painful! When you tackle a thorny rosebush, you'll need thick gloves and sharp pruning shears. When you tackle a thorny issue at work or at school, on the other hand, you might need tools like diplomacy and intelligence. This figurative meaning of thorny is useful for describing especially complex or distressing issues, like a thorny political problem that divides a nation.
Vocabulary lists containing thorny
All The Feels: Touching Words For Textures
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 5
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Part 2 Vocabulary (Unit 3)
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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.
See Examples For:
But to do so overlooks the thrilling, genuinely thorny assertions contained in several of the season’s best films.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
In the hierarchy of group chats, ranked from most benign to active minefield, the mom chat is in its own atmosphere, the Victor Wembanyama of thorny text chains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
During US President Donald Trump's first administration, he even wrote about thorny topics such as the spread of misinformation on his platforms, external.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Burnham later told broadcasters Britain will "work hard" to find a resolution on the thorny issue and that he is "confident we can find it working with our US partners".
From Barron's
Mrs. Frisby had never realized until that moment, standing next to it, how very big the bush was, how dense, how incredibly thorny.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
But American business owners and policymakers are grappling with a thornier question: Are high energy costs a temporary nuisance to wait out, or a long-term economic reality that calls for price increases right now?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Then it was back to even thornier negotiations in Russia–Ukraine, and Iran.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
The upticks follow the 60-day deal between the U.S. and Iran, and ongoing negotiations over the conflict’s thornier disputes.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
But if much of “Wasteman” follows an expected trajectory, the film’s conception of Taylor proves thornier than anticipated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
It frequents the borders of thickets, briar patches, or wherever there is a low, dense growth of bushes—the thornier and more impenetrable the better.
From Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography, Vol. 2, No. 6 December, 1897 by Various
Whether those talks — which were meant to deal with the thorniest issues between the two countries, including the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program — will go ahead remains unclear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
But negotiations on some of the thorniest issues - including Iran's nuclear programme - will be deferred for 60 days, raising questions about how long this agreement will last.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
“What the 60-day window is actually for is ironing out the thorniest details,” Henrietta Treyz, director of economic policy at Veda Partners, wrote in a note.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
The chapter on fisheries, expected to be the thorniest as Iceland is intent on retaining control over its resources, had not been opened.
From Barron's ● Mar. 6, 2026
The Reagan had run afoul of nuclear power’s thorniest problem: radioactive isotopes.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
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.
