bristly

[ bris-lee ]

/ ˈbrɪs li /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR bristly ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, bris·tli·er, bris·tli·est.

covered or rough with bristles.

like or resembling bristles.

easily antagonized; irascible: a bristly person with few friends.

Origin of bristly

First recorded in 1585–95; bristle + -y¹

OTHER WORDS FROM bristly

bris·tli·ness, noun

Words nearby bristly

bristle-grass, bristlemouth, bristletail, bristle-thighed curlew, bristle worm, bristly, bristly sarsaparilla, Bristol, Bristol board, Bristol Channel, Bristol fashion

Example sentences from the Web for bristly

Hazily I could see scores of the bristly, manlike fish when I opened my eyes and glanced through the walls.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science September 1930|Various
He crumpled the assignment memo into a small, hard ball and hurled it at the bristly image of himself in the bar mirror.
Postmark Ganymede|Robert Silverberg
But Dopping was not to be beat He's a bristly old bear at times, but he always was a gentleman.
Our Casualty And Other Stories|James Owen Hannay, AKA George A. Birmingham
It is a slightly-branched plant, from one to four feet high, clothed with stiff, bristly hairs.
Field and Woodland Plants|William S. Furneaux

The fruit is comparatively large, and granulated, but not bristly, and it droops by the bending of the pedicel.
Field and Woodland Plants|William S. Furneaux