as in bristly
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1
as in bursting
to be copiously supplied
a recent college grad thrilled to be starting a new life in a city bristling with possibilities
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in storming
to express one's anger usually violently
the man bristled at the accusation, and threatened to file a lawsuit
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of bristling
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
Luca Evans, Denver Post, 7 Dec. 2025
The real success of King Sorrow, however, is its balancing of stunt and spectacle with the characters’ bristling imperfections.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
Mispelys Salazar clutches a stack of papers close to her chest as bristling wind gusts threaten to send them flying into the air.
—Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN Money, 1 Dec. 2025
The path curls beneath bristling columns and then drops steeply over the side.
—Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 8 Nov. 2025
Bondi’s response was characteristically bristling and evasive; Whitehouse asked about the money seven times, to no avail.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Spicomellus had a back that was probably bristling with sharper spines, along with far larger ones along its outer edges.
—ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025
With the neighborhood already bristling with all kinds of MLRS, that will no doubt be the case.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
During a standout setpiece at the restaurant — opened after hours for the celebrity couple, to the bristling resentment of the staff — Tony sufficiently ingratiates himself with the Americans that Jack agrees to read Amin’s script.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
That gives it a bristling relevance.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
Verb
Buried in a six-game losing streak, Las Vegas head coach Pete Carroll has canned two coordinators — most notably offensive mind Chip Kelly, hired away from national champion Ohio State this offseason to operate a Raiders attack bristling with skill players.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 7 Dec. 2025
The real success of King Sorrow, however, is its balancing of stunt and spectacle with the characters’ bristling imperfections.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
Mispelys Salazar clutches a stack of papers close to her chest as bristling wind gusts threaten to send them flying into the air.
—Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN Money, 1 Dec. 2025
The path curls beneath bristling columns and then drops steeply over the side.
—Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 8 Nov. 2025
Bondi’s response was characteristically bristling and evasive; Whitehouse asked about the money seven times, to no avail.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Spicomellus had a back that was probably bristling with sharper spines, along with far larger ones along its outer edges.
—ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025
With the neighborhood already bristling with all kinds of MLRS, that will no doubt be the case.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
During a standout setpiece at the restaurant — opened after hours for the celebrity couple, to the bristling resentment of the staff — Tony sufficiently ingratiates himself with the Americans that Jack agrees to read Amin’s script.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bristling
Adjective
-
During the summer ski jumping season when competitors slide down ceramic or porcelain tracks and land on bristly plastic mats, the team tried to adjust to the new ski suit dimensions.—
Brian Melley,
Chicago Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Their typically bristly fur is peppered with shades of brown and gray, with a white underbelly.—
Marina Watts,
PEOPLE,
16 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
There’s a five-star spa, a hotel restaurant bursting with fecund plants, and soft, warm lighting.—
Jocelyn Silver,
Vogue,
27 Jan. 2026
-
The school still needs about $2 million to get it across the finish line — including the heavy lifting of bursting the seawall to create the inland lagoon that will host the mangroves.—
Alex Harris,
Miami Herald,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
An anti-ICE protest outside a Minneapolis hotel turned violent Sunday night, with some smashing windows and throwing bottles as federal officers fought to keep them from storming inside.—
Nick Ferraro,
Twin Cities,
26 Jan. 2026
-
That’s slightly stronger than the G1 and G2 strength storming conditions the SWPC had previously forecasted.—
Addy Bink,
The Hill,
20 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Sister Rochelle, played by April Grace with seething intensity, sets her straight.—
Lisa Rosen,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Bondi Beach, Sydney — For Australia’s tiny Jewish population, Bondi Beach was a refuge within a vast country that offered sanctuary to families fleeing a seething hate that killed six million of their kind within the lifetime of some of their oldest members.—
Hilary Whiteman,
CNN Money,
20 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
The Congress Centre was buzzing with both dominating and dominant leaders from across the world.—
Vaishali Nigam Sinha,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Nothing today felt like play, yesterday my phone will be buzzing with messages, a child was used as bait, ICE is sending out flyers offering food support to families, don’t take the bait.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Set into motion by an innocuous wish, the James family is forced to explore their generational differences, intra-marital conflicts, raging hormones, and professional anxieties, in a complicated web of body-swapping madness.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
27 Jan. 2026
-
At the time, a war was raging in Europe and the United States was seeking to assert its dominance in Latin America.—
Karissa Waddick,
USA Today,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
More humane methods of killing lobsters pre-boiling include a sharp knife through the head, electrical stunning, or freezing.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
29 Dec. 2025
-
Agrawal and her team studied ionic liquids — salts that are liquid at sub-boiling temperatures (below 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or 100 degrees Celsius) — as a potential hospitable environment for life.—
Stefanie Waldek,
Space.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The workshop was a leather Pouch, bulging with what a child can win.—
Sean Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
-
The younger Pearl does not stalk the sideline drenched in sweat, veins bulging from his neck and spittle flying at every questionable call.—
Edgar Thompson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bristling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bristling. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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