thorny

adjective

ˈthȯr-nē 

thornier; thorniest

1

: full of thorns

2

: full of difficulties or controversial points : ticklish

a thorny problem

thorniness noun

Synonyms

• jagged
• prickly
• scratchy
• brambly

Examples of thorny in a Sentence

stay out of the thorny brambles unless you want a ton of scratches

Recent Examples on the Web

Then comes the real work of actually governing the world’s fourth-largest economy, with the future prime minister inheriting a slate of thorny issues. —Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2025

The plan treads lightly on thornier topics, like the role of the Palestinian Authority, The New York Times noted. —Semafor Events, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2025

Stories like these usually lurch from one contrivance and complication to the next, but Chad Powers knots itself into a genuinely thorny conflict by the finale. —Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2025

In the second validation study, a team led by microbiologists José Penadés and Tiago Costa at Imperial College London challenged the AI co-scientist with a thorny question about bacterial evolution. —Elie Dolgin, IEEE Spectrum, 25 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for thorny

• corny
• horny

Kids Definition

thorny

adjective

ˈthȯr-nē 

thornier; thorniest

1

: full of or covered with thorns

thorny rose bushes

2

: full of difficulties

a thorny problem

thorniness noun