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
Tim Robinson, the former Saturday Night Live writer and performer who now co-stars with Paul Rudd in the prickly cringe comedy Friendship, is probably a genius.
—
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 9 May 2025
That's far worse than his 7-point deficit in approval on handling immigration (as reported here), demonstrating that public sentiment is especially prickly when economic well-being is on the line.
—Ishai Melamede, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2025
Characters like Diane Kruger’s Terry, a prickly dog groomer and the sister of his Karsh’s late wife Becca, who happens to look exactly like her.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 18 Apr. 2025
Boselli and his teammates, coached by prickly taskmaster Tom Coughlin, saw it differently.
—Michael Silver, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prickly
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 9 May 2025
That's far worse than his 7-point deficit in approval on handling immigration (as reported here), demonstrating that public sentiment is especially prickly when economic well-being is on the line.
—Ishai Melamede, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2025
Characters like Diane Kruger’s Terry, a prickly dog groomer and the sister of his Karsh’s late wife Becca, who happens to look exactly like her.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 18 Apr. 2025
Boselli and his teammates, coached by prickly taskmaster Tom Coughlin, saw it differently.
—Michael Silver, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prickly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prickly
Adjective
-
For some people, double cleansing may be too irritating.—
Sarah Bence,
Verywell Health,
15 May 2025
-
Not just the threat-of-extinction stuff, which includes Bassett’s POTUS debating which American city to blow up as a preemptive gesture, but by its own irritating God’s-eye omniscience that rarely allows the suspense to spool out in the present.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2025
Adjective
-
The crew is under the supervision of the capable Mensah (Noma Dumezweni) who is prone to panic attacks as the group visits an irritable planet at the behest of The Corporation — a powerful business conglomerate where profit is indeed king.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
16 May 2025
-
It’s said to cause people to become irritable, aggravate health problems, and abrade mechanical devices.—
Erik Sherman,
Forbes.com,
8 May 2025
Adjective
-
Hepburn’s thorny performance veers away from her typical sparkling ingenue presence toward something more brittle (watching Holly Golightly restrain herself from cursing out a precocious, irritating child delights).—
Gráinne O'Hara Belluomo,
Footwear News,
26 May 2025
-
The relationship has long proved thorny due to strained political ties during the latter years of the reign of Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe.—
Tristan Lavalette,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
And hegemony is difficult to maintain in the long run.—
Andrew Latham,
The Conversation,
30 May 2025
-
The litigation in the case continues, but in the short term, many migrants will be left with difficult choices.—
Nora Gámez Torres,
Miami Herald,
30 May 2025
Adjective
-
Ethan just held onto a plane in mid-air, beat the bad guy, and defeated a god-like artificial intelligence averting the fiery nuclear death of all humanity.—
James Grebey,
Vulture,
23 May 2025
-
As Mars meets with Venus in a fiery trine, this sizzling synergy activates your 10th house of authority and publicity and sixth house of due diligence.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
The thunder rolled and lightning danced among the jagged peaks as a summer rainstorm soaked the alpine meadows of California’s Sierra Nevada.—
Ernie Cowan,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 May 2025
-
In addition to more glaciers (circa 300) than any other national park in the Lower 48 states, North Cascades boasts dozens of jagged snowy peaks, wild rivers, tranquil lakes, and among the highest biodiversity of any U.S. park.—
Joe Yogerst,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
Adjective
-
Moreover, data tokenization or de-identification allows sensitive information (like PII or health records) to be replaced with non-sensitive surrogates, reducing risk without compromising analytics.—
Shinoy Vengaramkode Bhaskaran,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
-
These searches help keep digital communications and sensitive information safe.—
Jeremiah Bartz,
The Conversation,
30 May 2025
Adjective
-
Everything was soft to touch except the scratchy instrument binnacle.—
Matthew MacConnell,
Forbes.com,
21 May 2025
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Pavement’s early music was scratchy and eccentric, built on guitars that gnawed and eked their way through songs.—
Hua Hsu,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Prickly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prickly. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
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