THORNINESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does thorniness mean? 

• THORNINESS (noun)
  The noun THORNINESS has 2 senses:

1. the quality of being covered with prickly thorns or spines

2. a rough and bitter manner

  Familiarity information: THORNINESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THORNINESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of being covered with prickly thorns or spines

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

bristliness; prickliness; spininess; thorniness

Hypernyms ("thorniness" is a kind of...):

raggedness; roughness (a texture of a surface or edge that is not smooth but is irregular and uneven)

Derivation:

thorny (having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A rough and bitter manner

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

acerbity; acrimony; bitterness; jaundice; tartness; thorniness

Hypernyms ("thorniness" is a kind of...):

disagreeableness (an ill-tempered and offensive disposition)