'Thorny' definitions:
Definition of 'thorny'
From: WordNet
adjective
Bristling with perplexities; "the thorny question of states' rights"
adjective
Definition of 'Thorny'
From: GCIDE
- Thorny \Thorn"y\, a. [Compar. Thornier; superl. Thorniest.] [Cf. AS. [thorn]orniht.]
- 1. Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; spiny; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny crown. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Like a thorn or thorns; hence, figuratively, troublesome; vexatious; harassing; perplexing. "The thorny point of bare distress." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- The steep and thorny way to heaven. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Thorny rest-harrow (Bot.), rest-harrow.
- Thorny trefoil, a prickly plant of the genus Fagonia (Fagonia Cretica, etc.). [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'thorny'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abstruse,
- acanaceous,
- acanthoid,
- aciculate,
- aculeolate,
- arduous,
- barbed,
- barbellate,
- brambly,
- briery,
- bristly,
- brutal,
- complex,
- complicated,
- controversial,
- critical,
- delicate,
- demanding,
- difficile,
- difficult,
- exacting,
- formidable,
- hairy,
- hard,
- hard-earned,
- hard-fought,
- Herculean,
- intricate,
- involved,
- jawbreaking,
- knotted,
- knotty,
- laborious,
- mean,
- muricate,
- nasty,
- nettlesome,
- no picnic,
- not easy,
- operose,
- painful,
- pricking,
- prickly,
- pricky,
- problematic,
- rigorous,
- rough,
- rugged,
- set with thorns,
- setaceous,
- setose,
- severe,
- spiculate,
- spiculose,
- spiked,
- spinous,
- spiny,
- steep,
- sticky,
- stinging,
- strenuous,
- tangled,
- thistly,
- ticklish,
- toilsome,
- tough,
- tricky,
- troublesome,
- uphill,
- vexatious,
- wicked,
- worrying