bristlier; bristliest
1
a
: thickly set with bristles
a bristly shrub
b
: consisting of or resembling bristles
a bristly mustache
2
: inclined to or showing aggressiveness or anger
a bristly temperament
Examples of bristly in a Sentence
although pigs look hairless, they're actually bristly creatures
Recent Examples on the Web
And my father—lovable but imposing, a strapping six feet three inches tall with a thick, bristly mustache and a rumbling Sergeant Schultz accent that frightened my friends half to death—loved to tell stories.
—
CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025
But that hypothesis, Harland wrote in a bristly 1964 Scientific American article, was not supported by any concrete evidence.
—Laura Poppick
july 22, Literary Hub, 22 July 2025
Step 3: Tidy the Harvest When the garlic is fully cured with papery skins and brittle, brown leaves, brush away any excess soil with your fingers and clip back the bristly roots.
—Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Aug. 2024
Called Utah arrays, they are made of hard silicon and look a bit like the bristly part of a hairbrush.
—WIRED, 19 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for bristly
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CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025
But that hypothesis, Harland wrote in a bristly 1964 Scientific American article, was not supported by any concrete evidence.
—Laura Poppick
july 22, Literary Hub, 22 July 2025
Step 3: Tidy the Harvest When the garlic is fully cured with papery skins and brittle, brown leaves, brush away any excess soil with your fingers and clip back the bristly roots.
—Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Aug. 2024
Called Utah arrays, they are made of hard silicon and look a bit like the bristly part of a hairbrush.
—WIRED, 19 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for bristly
Cite this Entry
“Bristly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bristly. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
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