Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state of being prickly, or having many prickles.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality of being prickly, or of having many prickles.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The state or quality of being prickly.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the quality of being covered with prickly thorns or spines

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Whether or not the prickliness is justified, the military does bridle at civilian imposition on military culture.

    Matthew Yglesias » Don’t Ask Don’t Tell 2010

  • Whether or not the prickliness is justified, the military does bridle at civilian imposition on military culture.

    Matthew Yglesias » Don’t Ask Don’t Tell 2010

  • Now the same prickliness is clear when his track record as President is on the docket.

    Matthew Yglesias » Endgame 2010

  • But watching Mr Cameron at work, offering his usual mix of personal anecdote, British good manners and cautious, low-ambition optimism, the day also offered salutary reminders that this strategy struggles in the face of anger, or prickliness, that is impervious to optimism.

    The Economist: Daily news and views 2011

  • The Time article this week about his "prickliness" and others that are pointing out that he isn't "who he used to be," I think are starting to get at the possibility of his mental health being an issue (i.e., senility).

    Election Central Saturday Roundup 2009

  • This "prickliness", for lack of a better word, can even turn fatal, as countless "honor killings" can attest.

    Archive 2005-10-16 Steve Sailer 2005

  • This "prickliness", for lack of a better word, can even turn fatal, as countless "honor killings" can attest.

    Does Islam make its adherents violent? Steve Sailer 2005

  • But another view of the Iraqi leader is that he is an Arab Charles de Gaulle, both in his personal prickliness and fervent nationalism.

    Iraq After America 2011

  • While growing tensions on the high seas have been the main focus in recent territorial tensions between China and Japan, a report released by the Defense Ministry shows prickliness is escalating in the skies as well.

    How to Win a Free Fight to Japan...Maybe 2011

  • But his run against Jim Webb in 2006, however, revealed that he really spent his childhood in Southern California and provoked some prickliness on his part at the revelation of Jewish roots on his mother's side, as if that matters in today's Virginia.

    Rough waters for George Allen Peter Galuszka 2011

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