as in shaggy
covered with or as if with hair
although pigs look hairless, they're actually bristly creatures
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Recent Examples of bristly
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
Thirteen Lives reminds me of Ron Howard's Apollo 13 for its bristly character moments, people caught in extremis.
—Joshua Rothkopf, EW.com, 6 Aug. 2022
Hedgehogs are small mammals, known for their coats, which are covered with bristly spines.
—Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2021
See All Example Sentences for bristly
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
Thirteen Lives reminds me of Ron Howard's Apollo 13 for its bristly character moments, people caught in extremis.
—Joshua Rothkopf, EW.com, 6 Aug. 2022
Hedgehogs are small mammals, known for their coats, which are covered with bristly spines.
—Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2021
See All Example Sentences for bristly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bristly
Adjective
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Last Wednesday, the hotel was swarmed with guys sporting shaggy haircuts, all looking like Geese frontman Cameron Winter.—
Nate Freeman,
Vanity Fair,
9 June 2026
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On June 5, Hadid debuted a set of shaggy Birkin bangs on Instagram, as well as a surprising new golden-brown hair color.—
Chanel Vargas,
InStyle,
6 June 2026
Adjective
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People had expectations of Mike Myers, because of SNL and Wayne’s World — not everybody was going along with this idea of the bad teeth, hairy body and taking the piss out of Bond.—
Angela Andaloro,
PEOPLE,
13 June 2026
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Carpet beetle larvae are usually about 1/8-inch long, tan, and covered in hairy bristles.—
Meghan Overdeep,
Southern Living,
10 June 2026
Adjective
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As lasers sliced through smoke billowing from the stage, frontman Tyrone Lindqvist's silky falsetto floated over a sea of festivalgoers stretching far, far, far beyond the soundboard.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
14 June 2026
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Al Bello—Getty Images Hart caught a break when Wemby, usually so silky at the foul line, missed a pair.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
14 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bristly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bristly. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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