Wiktionary

thorny

See also: Þorný

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English thorny, þorny, þorni, from Old English þorniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *þornag. By surface analysis, thorn +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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thorny (comparative thornier, superlative thorniest)

  1. (literally) Having thorns or spines.
    Synonyms: prickly, spiny
    • 2024 October 3, Sandee LaMotte, “‘I’ve never experienced pain like that’: Consumers pay the price for untested food ingredients”, in CNN‎[1]:
      Tara flour is one of two products made from the seed pods of a thorny shrub native to Peru. One of those, tara gum, has been used safely for years as a thickening agent or stabilizer in human foods.
  2. (figuratively)
    1. 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
      • 2008 July 15, Keith Goetzman, “Is Fan Fiction Flouting the Law?”, in Utne Reader:
        Westcott doesn’t even consider the thornier question of fan fiction based on real and often living people, for instance, the “bandslash” or “bandfic” phenomenon built around rock-star characters and often homoerotic subplots.
      • 2017 September 28, Ana Swanson, “How the Trump Administration Is Doing Renegotiating Nafta”, in The New York Times‎[2]:
        Six weeks into the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the thorniest issues surrounding the pact remain unresolved.
      • 2021 October 10, Caroline Anders, “A TikTok bone salesman’s wall of spines reignites ethical debate over selling human remains”, in The Washington Post‎[3]:
        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.
      • 2025 April 16, Ben Jones, “An opening for international high-speed competition”, in RAIL, number 1033, page 13:
        Station capacity in London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam remains a thorny issue, as does obtaining suitable Channel Tunnel-compliant trains.
    2. 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

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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From Old English þorniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *þornag. Equivalent to thorn +‎ -y.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈθɔrniː/, /ˈθoːrniː/

Adjective

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thorny

  1. Having many thorns or spines; thorny.
  2. (rare) Covered in thorny plants.
  3. (rare) Having a shape like a thorn.
Descendants
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  • English: thorny
  • Scots: thorny
References
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Etymology 2

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Verb

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thorny

  1. Alternative form of thornen
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