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bristly

[bris-lee]

Origin

adjective, -tli·er, -tli·est.

covered or rough with bristles.

like or resembling bristles.

easily antagonized; irascible: a bristly person with few friends.

Origin:
1585–95; bristle + -y¹

Related forms

bris·tli·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Bristly is always a great word to know.

So is zedonk. Does it mean:

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

bristle (ˈbrɪs^əl)

—n
1.	any short stiff hair of an animal or plant
2.	something resembling these hair: toothbrush bristle

—vb (when intr, often foll by up) (sometimes foll by up)
3.	to stand up or cause to stand up like bristles: the angry cat's fur bristled
4.	to show anger, indignation, etc: she bristled at the suggestion
5.	(intr) to be thickly covered or set: the target bristled with arrows
6.	(intr) to be in a state of agitation or movement: the office was bristling with activity
7.	(tr) to provide with a bristle or bristles

[C13 bristil, brustel, from earlier brust, from Old English byrst; related to Old Norse burst, Old High German borst]

'bristly

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

bristly

1590s, from bristle + -y (2). Figurative sense is recorded from 1872.

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choke cirriped desmid English gooseberry fountain grass hairbrush cactus

Matching Quote

"It was a mossy swamp, which it required the long legs of a moose to traverse, and it is very likely that we scared some of them in our transit, though we saw none. It was ready to echo the growl of a bear, the howl of a wolf, or the scream of a panther; but when you get fairly into the middle of one of these grim forests, you are surprised to find that the larger inhabitants are not at home commonly, but have left only a puny red squirrel to bark at you.... I did, however, see one dead porcupine; perhaps he had succumbed to the difficulties of the way. These bristly fellows are a very suitable small fruit of such unkempt wildernesses."

-Henry David Thoreau

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bristly

bris·tly