Thorny vs. Prickly — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Thorny and Prickly
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Compare with Definitions
Thorny
Having many thorns or abounding in thorn-covered vegetation
Thorny shrubs.
A thorny landscape.
Prickly
Having prickles.
Thorny
Spiny or prickly.
Prickly
Prickling or tingling or smarting
A prickly sensation in my foot.
Thorny
Controversial, problematic, or vexatious
Avoided discussing thorny issues during the meeting.
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Prickly
Causing trouble or vexation; thorny
A prickly situation.
Thorny
Having thorns or spines
Prickly
Bristling or irritable
"In consequence, he became rebarbative, prickly, spiteful" (Robert Craft).
Thorny
(figuratively) Troublesome or vexatious
Prickly
Covered with sharp points.
The prickly pear is a cactus; you have to peel it before eating it to remove the spines and the tough skin.
Thorny
Aloof and irritable
Prickly
(figurative) Easily irritated.
He has a prickly personality. He doesn't get along with people because he is easily set off.
Thorny
Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; spiny; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny crown.
Prickly
(figurative) Difficult; complicated; hairy or thorny.
It was a prickly situation.
Thorny
Like a thorn or thorns; hence, figuratively, troublesome; vexatious; harassing; perplexing.
The steep and thorny way to heaven.
Prickly
In a prickly manner.
Thorny
Bristling with perplexities;
The thorny question of states' rights
Prickly
(colloquial) Something that gives a pricking sensation; a sharp object.
Thorny
Having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.;
A horse with a short bristly mane
Bristly shrubs
Burred fruits
Setaceous whiskers
Prickly
Full of sharp points or prickles; armed or covered with prickles; as, a prickly shrub.
Prickly
Very irritable;
Bristly exchanges between the White House and the press
He became prickly and spiteful
Witty and waspish about his colleagues
Prickly
Having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.;
A horse with a short bristly mane
Bristly shrubs
Burred fruits
Setaceous whiskers
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