"thorny" in the adjective sense
1. thorny
bristling with perplexities
"the thorny question of states' rights"
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)
Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.
View WordNet® License