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
But the Path of Exile community is also pretty prickly, and many are calling for GGG to take action against him for boosting or account sharing as that’s against TOS and other players would be banned for it.
—
Paul Tassi, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
Tingly Foods Sichuan Pepper Peanuts Red and green Sichuan peppercorns pack a prickly punch in this crunchy snack, perfect alongside a cold, crisp beer.
—Megan Zhang, Saveur, 13 Nov. 2024
Page after page, her writing is full of humor built around prickly sarcasm and woebegone twists in George’s life.
—Kendal Weaver, Boston Herald, 13 Oct. 2024
As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Biden tried to smooth over rough patches between Carter and foreign leaders, particularly the prickly German chancellor.
—Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY, 30 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for prickly 
Paul Tassi, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
Tingly Foods Sichuan Pepper Peanuts Red and green Sichuan peppercorns pack a prickly punch in this crunchy snack, perfect alongside a cold, crisp beer.
—Megan Zhang, Saveur, 13 Nov. 2024
Page after page, her writing is full of humor built around prickly sarcasm and woebegone twists in George’s life.
—Kendal Weaver, Boston Herald, 13 Oct. 2024
As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Biden tried to smooth over rough patches between Carter and foreign leaders, particularly the prickly German chancellor.
—Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY, 30 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for prickly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prickly
Adjective
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Crusty eyes can be unsightly and irritating, but there are ways to manage and treat the debris and keep your eyes clean and healthy.—
Laura Schober,
Health,
29 Jan. 2025
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Try substituting less irritating sodium ascorbate for vitamin C and retinal for retinol or tretinoin.—
Anna Giorgi,
Verywell Health,
22 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
By the end, Liverpool’s players seemed tired and Klopp was irritable, clearly in need of a rest.—
Simon Hughes,
The Athletic,
20 Jan. 2025
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The trio’s sixth record is charmingly irritable in both of its moods: hopped up on fluffy coffee while cracking baseball jokes, or dragging out downbeats and lamenting power structures to goad listeners with mounting anticipation.—
Madison Bloom,
Pitchfork,
4 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Join Our Other Game Discussions Want to be part of the conversation about New York Times Games, or maybe get some help with a particularly thorny puzzle?—
Deb Amlen,
New York Times,
24 Jan. 2025
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The case shocked the world, rekindled thorny debates about women’s rights in France and turned Gisele Pelicot into a feminist icon.—
Reuters,
CNN,
23 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Nevertheless, the offer could make OpenAI’s reorganization plans more difficult – and significantly more expensive.—
David Goldman,
CNN,
11 Feb. 2025
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The only thing that could make persuading a group of pandemic skeptics to care about an infectious-disease outbreak more difficult is your boss—the president of the United States—undercutting your raison d’être.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Washington — The Senate Finance Committee advanced Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination Tuesday, moving forward with his confirmation to lead the Department of Health and Human Services after a pair of fiery hearings last week that left his approval on shaky ground.—
Kaia Hubbard,
CBS News,
4 Feb. 2025
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The fiery Drake takedown also vaulted him to third place on the list of rappers with the most Grammys — he’s taken home 22 trophies.—
Andre Gee,
Rolling Stone,
4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Two hours later, a second piece of the plane was pulled out –– a jagged portion of the fuselage not immediately identifiable.—
Karina Tsui,
CNN,
4 Feb. 2025
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For glam, the mom of three, 32, wore an old Hollywood-style bob with curls, brown-tone makeup and a long nails with jagged black French tips.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
People.com,
3 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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State of play: Immigration officials can raid churches and schools to arrest undocumented immigrants after the Trump administration scrapped a policy that protected sensitive spaces, Axios' April Rubin writes.—
Alex Golden,
Axios,
11 Feb. 2025
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The suit filed Tuesday is the second from a religious group to challenge the Trump administration's lifting of the sensitive locations policy.—
Sarah Ventre,
NPR,
11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Other symptoms include a scratchy feeling in the eye and eye redness.—
Laura Schober,
Health,
29 Jan. 2025
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His output is alluded to in the film’s atmospheric credit sequence, in which a restless, scratchy charcoal pencil attacks white paper, the claustrophobia of which is intensified by the director’s intimate use of Academy ratio.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
25 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near prickly
Cite this Entry
“Prickly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prickly. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.
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