thorny
See also: Þorný
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English thorny, þorny, þorni, from Old English þorniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *þornag. Equivalent to thorn + -y.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈθɔːni/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈθɔɹni/
- Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)ni
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Adjective edit
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[1]:
- 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 edit
Translations edit
having thorns
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troublesome
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Anagrams edit
Middle English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Old English þorniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *þornag. Equivalent to thorn + -y.
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
thorny
- Having many thorns or spines; thorny.
- (rare) Covered in thorny plants.
- (rare) Having a shape like a thorn.
Descendants edit
References edit
- “thornī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-12.
Etymology 2 edit
Verb edit
thorny
- Alternative form of thornen