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THORNY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: thornier , thorniest
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.
Example:
setaceous whiskers
Synonyms:
barbed; barbellate; briary; briery; bristled; bristly; burred; burry; prickly; setaceous; setose; spiny; thorny
Classified under:
Similar:
armed ((used of plants and animals) furnished with bristles and thorns)
Derivation:
thorn (a small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leaf)
thorniness (the quality of being covered with prickly thorns or spines)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Bristling with perplexities
Example:
the thorny question of states' rights
Classified under:
Similar:
difficult; hard (not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure)
Context examples:
"Now, Jo, how could you think there was any need of asking? They are just as much yours as mine. Don't we always go halves in everything?" began Laurie, in the tone that always made Jo turn thorny.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
