as in difficult
requiring exceptional skill or caution in performance or handling
this promises to be a spiny problem to negotiate
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples of spiny in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But how could all these species, many of which evolved separately over the course of millions of years, come to have the same spiny feature?
—
Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 1 Aug. 2024
A lot of them were extra plump, too, like the spiny larvae of the dagger moth.
—Benji Jones, Vox, 6 May 2024
Luckily, deer turn their noses up at coneflower—the spiny center is a turn-off.
—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 15 May 2024
Using kitchen shears, cut the spiny tips off the artichoke leaves and rub all the cut edges with lemon.
—Kate Bradshaw, The Mercury News, 13 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for spiny 
Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 1 Aug. 2024
A lot of them were extra plump, too, like the spiny larvae of the dagger moth.
—Benji Jones, Vox, 6 May 2024
Luckily, deer turn their noses up at coneflower—the spiny center is a turn-off.
—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 15 May 2024
Using kitchen shears, cut the spiny tips off the artichoke leaves and rub all the cut edges with lemon.
—Kate Bradshaw, The Mercury News, 13 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for spiny
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spiny.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Thesaurus Entries Near spiny
Cite this Entry
“Spiny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spiny. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share