Meanings
nounprickliness (usually uncountable, plural pricklinesses)
plural pricklinesses
- uncountableusuallyThe state or quality of being prickly.
The sharp prickliness of its finnes.
1661, J. Childrey, Brit. Baconica, page 1052 more examples
A Thistle…assuming a new Form, and without any prickliness.
1725, Bradley, Fam. Dict., volume II, s.v. PresageCloser inspection disclosed the furious and impossible prickliness of their surface.
1878 August 15th, A. Forbes, Daily News, page 6/2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe quality of being covered with prickly thorns or spines
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Irish drisíneacht
- drisíneachtthe state or quality of being prickly
Italian spinosità
- spinositàthe state or quality of being prickly
Russian колю́честь
- колю́честь (koljúčestʹ)the state or quality of being prickly
Cite this entry
APA
prickliness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prickliness
MLA
“prickliness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prickliness. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prickliness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prickliness.
Source: prickliness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.