Prickly means covered in small sharp points. A prickly bush, prickly leaves, prickly to touch.
The points are defence against browsing animals, and plants in dry places grow them partly for that and partly because a spine loses less water than a leaf. Of a person, prickly means easily offended. Of a feeling it means uncomfortable: a prickly silence. Note prickle, and prick.
1adjectivepricklyCovered in small sharp points.
“The hedgehog rolled into a prickly ball when the dog came near.”
synonyms: thorny, spiny
2adjectiveeasilyEasily offended.
“Be careful what you say to him about his cooking; he's very prickly.”
prickly is a quality of sharpness.
Proto-West Germanic
*prikislī
Old English
pricel
Middle English
prykkyl
English
prickle
English, today
prickly
Built from
From prickle + -y. prickle comes from Middle English prykkyl, prykyl, from Old English pricel, pricels, pricle (“a prickle, sharp point, bit”), from a conflation of Proto-West Germanic prikislī and prikil (“prickle”). by surface analysis, en + prick + le. Cognate with West Frisian prikel (“goad, prickle”), Dutch prikkel (“sting, prickle, stimulus”), German Low German Prekel (“wooden stick, poker”), stq prikkelje (“to propel, spur on, goad”). Old English period.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA