"prickly" in the adjective sense
1. bristly, prickly, splenetic, waspish
very irritable
"bristly exchanges between the White House and the press"
"he became prickly and spiteful"
"witty and waspish about his colleagues"
2. barbed, barbellate, briary, briery, bristled, bristly, burred, burry, prickly, setose, setaceous, spiny, thorny
having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.
"a horse with a short bristly mane"
"bristly shrubs"
"burred fruits"
"setaceous whiskers"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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