形容词,指表面有刺的、多刺的;也可以形容人容易生气、敏感易怒的。
Be careful with that cactus — it's very prickly.
小心那棵仙人掌——它浑身是刺。
He became prickly whenever someone questioned his decisions, making it difficult to have an open discussion with him.
每当有人质疑他的决定时,他就变得很敏感易怒,这让大家很难和他进行开放的讨论。
源自中古英语 prickle(小刺、尖刺),加上形容词后缀 -ly,表示"有刺的、像刺一样的"。prickle 本身来自古英语 pricel,与 prick(刺、扎)同源,原始日耳曼语根表示"尖锐的点"。该词后来引申出"敏感易怒"的比喻义,形容一个人像刺猬一样难以接近。