bristly

[bris-lee]

adjective

bristlier, bristliest 

1. covered or rough with bristles.

2. like or resembling bristles.

3. easily antagonized; irascible.

   a bristly person with few friends.

Other Word Forms

• bristliness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bristly¹

First recorded in 1585–95; bristle + -y ¹

Example Sentences

Idris makes his rookie character bristly yet endearing, with the thin-skinned transparency of a generation raised to measure its worth in likes.

From Los Angeles Times

Fury has grown a bristly beard, which he says provides added strength.

From BBC

But despite its bristly concept, “The End” largely forgoes any direct images of annihilation, settling into a vast underground bunker with seemingly endless resources well after most humans have perished.

From Salon

The other carried a bristly stick, with which they used to scratch the cephalopods’ sensitive skin.

From Los Angeles Times

The observed species are classified as baleen whales, which have a large bristly whalebone at the front of their mouth to filter feed, instead of teeth.

From BBC