Synonyms for prickly
ˈprɪk liprick·ly

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.3 / 3 votes

1. bristly, prickly, splenetic, waspishadjective

   very irritable

   "bristly exchanges between the White House and the press"; "he became prickly and spiteful"; "witty and waspish about his colleagues"

   Synonyms:
   briary, barbed, setose, waspish, bristled, splenic, burred, bristly, barbellate, setaceous, briery, burry, splenetic, spiny, thorny, lienal

   Antonyms:
   good-natured, unarmed

2. barbed, barbellate, briary, briery, bristled, bristly, burred, burry, prickly, setose, setaceous, spiny, thornyadjective

   having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.

   "a horse with a short bristly mane"; "bristly shrubs"; "burred fruits"; "setaceous whiskers"

   Synonyms:
   briary, nipping, barbed, setose, waspish, mordacious, pungent, burred, spinous, bristly, barbellate, setaceous, briery, thorny, burry, biting, splenetic, spiny, bristled

   Antonyms:
   good-natured, unarmed

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. pricklyadjective

   Synonyms:
   thorny, spiny, brambly, briery

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "prickly":

   sculpin

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How to use prickly in a sentence?

1. Tom Cech:

   If you don't have irrigation in Colorado -- in the West -- all you're going to grow is probably prickly pear cactus and sagebrush, water is key to that economic growth, not only in Colorado or Western Nebraska, but in California and the West in general.

2. Wendy Suzuki:

   Anxiety is a prickly friend, but sometimes prickly friends are useful.

3. T.S. Eliot:

   Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five o'clock in the morning.