1
2
as in irritable
easily irritated or annoyed
she dreaded having to deal with her prickly boss
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
4
as in difficult
requiring exceptional skill or caution in performance or handling
a prickly issue that will outrage at least one special interest if not handled delicately
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of prickly
Fifteen years of separation led them to grow even further apart, though, and a once-symbiotic relationship has evolved into something considerably more prickly.
—
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 30 Aug. 2025
Hundreds of pages of university and court records paint a picture of a prickly professor whose challenges sucked up significant university resources.
—Kelly Meyerhofer, jsonline.com, 28 Aug. 2025
To me, an American woman in the early 21st century, prickly and free-spirited Lady Murasaki now appears to have been chafing under conformist pressures in the Heian court.
—Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2025
The loss of so many led to a population explosion of sea urchins — the prickly species that sea stars commonly eat — along the West Coast over the past decade.
—Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prickly
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 30 Aug. 2025
Hundreds of pages of university and court records paint a picture of a prickly professor whose challenges sucked up significant university resources.
—Kelly Meyerhofer, jsonline.com, 28 Aug. 2025
To me, an American woman in the early 21st century, prickly and free-spirited Lady Murasaki now appears to have been chafing under conformist pressures in the Heian court.
—Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2025
The loss of so many led to a population explosion of sea urchins — the prickly species that sea stars commonly eat — along the West Coast over the past decade.
—Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prickly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prickly
Adjective
-
Nina not being there contributed to one of the most irritating moments in this season so far, with Antonio smugly blowing a kiss into the camera for her and gloating about being in the top after her harsh critique last week.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
29 Aug. 2025
-
An irritating habit of his is to stop by and launch into long-winded stories about some mundane event in his present or past life or to pontificate about a current event.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Instead, Helen is allowed to be irritable and anti-social, chain-smoking and snappish, without the filmmaker casting judgment.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
2 Sep. 2025
-
If you are rushed or irritable, say so.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The process to get a refund could be thorny for some.—
Solcyré Burga,
Time,
9 Sep. 2025
-
That’s a tall order with abysmal civic education and sharp partisan divisions over thorny issues.—
Karlyn Bowman,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The Bulls look to be the best team in the Group of Five conferences, while the Gators and coach Billy Napier are now under pressure with a difficult SEC schedule ahead.—
Erick Smith,
USA Today,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Usually the final day of boot camp is most difficult.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Missouri Republican lawmakers late Thursday voted to advance a new, gerrymandered congressional map despite hours of fiery public testimony against the proposal.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
4 Sep. 2025
-
As the mystery unravels from multiple POVs, Alex’s kooky aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan) is revealed as the orchestrator of the tragedy — her fiery orange hair, nimble fingers, ghostly face and wicked crimson smile a memorable image that haunts the narrative.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Most of the surface is made up of a fine dust with jagged edges because it hasn’t been weathered by wind or water.—
Jeremy Bogaisky,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Against all of this allegedly heady stuff, the score—by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—intentionally jars us from encroaching drowsiness with chortling woodwinds and shardlike piano chords that are the aural equivalent of jagged Plexiglass off-cuts.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Bella, now three and a half years old, was described by Overbye as calm, sensitive, quiet, smart, and playful.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Sep. 2025
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Prevent this by grounding AI in your documents and adding human review for sensitive content.—
Louis Mosca,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
One of the most poignant choices is to intercut scratchy film of the train that in 1921 transported the Unknown Soldier to Rome in a coffin draped with patriotic banners and flowers, to be enshrined in the Altar of the Fatherland with an eternal flame at the Vittorio Emanuele II monument.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
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Now, people who don’t have a technical understanding, there might be bootlegs, but that is scratchy stuff with not very good sound.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Prickly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prickly. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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