thorny
See also: Þorný
English
Etymology
From Middle English thorny, þorny, þorni, from Old English þorniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *þornag. Equivalent to thorn + -y.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈθɔːni/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈθɔɹni/
- Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)ni
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Adjective
thorny (comparative thornier, superlative thorniest)
- Having thorns or spines
- (figuratively) Troublesome or vexatious
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
- the steep and thorny way to heaven
- 2021 October 10, Caroline Anders, “A TikTok bone salesman’s wall of spines reignites ethical debate over selling human remains”, in The Washington Post:
- Museums have recently begun to confront the same thorny question, with several issuing public apologies for collecting the remains of people believed or known to have been enslaved.
- Aloof and irritable
- 1868, Louisa May Alcott, Good Wives:
- Come, Jo, don't be thorny. After studying himself to a skeleton all the week, a fellow deserves petting, and ought to get it.
Derived terms
- thornily
- thorniness
- thorny broom
- thorny devil
- thorny lacewing
- thorny oyster
- thorny restharrow
- thorny trefoil
- thorny worm
Translations
having thorns
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troublesome
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Anagrams
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English þorniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *þornag. Equivalent to thorn + -y.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈθɔrniː/, /ˈθoːrniː/
Adjective
thorny
References
- “thornī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-12.
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