as in difficult
requiring exceptional skill or caution in performance or handling
this promises to be a spiny problem to negotiate
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spiny
There are also the Mobius strip cuff links crafted from all-silver or interwoven yellow-gold, rhodium and black ruthenium or semiprecious chrysocolla or spiny oyster.
—
Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 1 Aug. 2025
The five most common are the sandbar shark, bull shark, sand tiger shark, smooth dogfish and spiny dogfish.
—Irit Skulnik, Baltimore Sun, 22 July 2025
The Caribbean lobster that lives in the waters off of Anegada are spiny, lack claws and are smaller than their Maine counterparts.
—Caitlin Palumbo, Forbes.com, 10 July 2025
Specific receptors on medium spiny neurons are common targets for medications that are sometimes used to help treat OCD.
—Carol Mathews, The Conversation, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for spiny
Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 1 Aug. 2025
The five most common are the sandbar shark, bull shark, sand tiger shark, smooth dogfish and spiny dogfish.
—Irit Skulnik, Baltimore Sun, 22 July 2025
The Caribbean lobster that lives in the waters off of Anegada are spiny, lack claws and are smaller than their Maine counterparts.
—Caitlin Palumbo, Forbes.com, 10 July 2025
Specific receptors on medium spiny neurons are common targets for medications that are sometimes used to help treat OCD.
—Carol Mathews, The Conversation, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for spiny
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spiny
Adjective
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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
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That’s a tough dichotomy to bridge, but the new 2025 911 Carrera GTS achieves it brilliantly.—
Mark Phelan,
USA Today,
7 Sep. 2025
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The tough stainless steel loops are reinforced and designed to remain rust-free even after years of use, and a three number combination lock will be easy to remember and difficult to crack.—
Merrell Readman,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The automaker is the latest British company to be hit by a cybersecurity incident in recent months amid a surge in cyber and ransomware attacks globally, as increasingly sophisticated threat actors disrupt operations and compromise sensitive data.—
Pushkala Aripaka,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
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Stress has been building at the long-end of the yield curve, where investors are most sensitive to fiscal credibility.—
Lee Ying Shan,
CNBC,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
More importantly, the most recent of these sightings, just two years ago, was by a railroad passenger, so keep a lookout for a tall, hairy figure, or for massive footprints, which are also commonly reported, and listen for the mysterious creature’s spine-tingling howls.—
The Editors,
Outside,
31 Aug. 2025
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But most plumbers recommend cleaning out the drain once a month to prevent the kind of nasty buildup that can get you into a hairy situation.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
27 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The tariffs also look to have driven up sticky inflation, with Trump pressuring Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates, in great part to get the housing market moving again.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
5 Sep. 2025
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Soap/Shampoo Residue While soap and shampoo don't create dust themselves, their residue creates the perfect sticky place for dust particles to attach to.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
During Friday’s press conference in the Palazzo del Casino, the actors tangled with the film’s thorny topics, which deal not only with assault but also race relations in the academic world and the ideological divide between generations.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
29 Aug. 2025
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The road narrowed, and dry grass and thorny scrub leaned over the dusty track, as two rhinos stepped quietly out of the undergrowth.—
Sarah Kingdom,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
My ultra earbuds keeps disconnecting randomly, and also first connection is problematic.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
3 Sep. 2025
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This creates an especially problematic situation since 70% of team engagement is attributable to the manager.—
Caroline Castrillon,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The Music City Loop combines multiple complicated aspirations dreamed up by Musk, and few of them have succeeded at accomplishing the feat they were created for.—
Charles Singh,
Nashville Tennessean,
5 Sep. 2025
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The death sets off a chain of events that forces Lilian to revisit her fractured family life and complicated bond with her ex-husband.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spiny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spiny. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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