pricklinessn.
/ˈprɪklɪnᵻs/, U.S. /ˈprɪk(ə)linᵻs/ The quality of being prickly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > sharp unevenness > [noun] > bristly or prickly condition
bristliness1611
prickliness1660
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > covering or skin > [noun] > hard or protective covering > spine > having prickles
prickliness1660
the world > plants > part of plant > thorn or prickle > [noun] > thorniness or thornlessness
prickliness1725
thornlessness1857
thorniness1869
1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 105 The sharp prickliness of its finnes.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Presage A Thistle..assuming a new Form, and without any prickliness.
1776 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 191 It possesses..the requisite qualities of quickness of growth, strength, prickliness..and beauty.
1845 J. D. Hooker Let. 4 Sept. in C. Darwin Corr. (1987) III. 251 Species vary in pricklyness just as they do in hairiness, according to the amount of spines or hairs produced.
1891 G. Meredith One of our Conquerors II. vii. 170 He let his eyelids drop: but the occasion for showing the prickliness of the bristly social English, could not be resisted.
1928 J. Buchan Runagates viii. 224 Jim's shyness and prickliness put him outside the pale.
1991 Pract. Gardening Dec. 44/3 Holly leaves vary in their prickliness, from smooth to terrifying.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1660