pricklyadjective
uk/ˈprɪk.əl.i//ˈprɪk.li/us/ˈprɪk.əl.i//ˈprɪk.li/prickly adjective (SHARP)
covered with prickles:
Chestnuts had burst out of their prickly green husks.
I find this sweater slightly prickly (= it makes the skin sore).
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Sharp and blunt
- blunt
- hone
- jaggy
- keen
- point
- pointed
- pointy
- razor-sharp
- sharp
- sharpen
- sharply
- spike
- spiked
- spiky
- spiny
- whet
prickly adjective (UNFRIENDLY)
informal unfriendly and easily offended or annoyed:
She was asked a couple of questions about her private life and got a little prickly.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Not being friendly
- (at) daggers drawn idiom
- abrasive
- antisocial
- asocial
- austere
- estrange
- estranged
- forbidding
- frostily
- give sb the time of day idiom
- hostile
- mixer
- saturnine
- sour
- unsociable
- unwelcoming
- wintry
- with friends like you, who needs enemies? idiom
- withdraw
- withdrawal
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Rude and cheeky
prickly adjective (COMPLICATED)
complicated and difficult to deal with:
a prickly issue/situation