Dictionary

bristly en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɹɪsli/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English bristli, brustly, equivalent to bristle + -y.

Meanings

1. Covered with bristles.
   • ONE DAY a caveman sat scratching his bristly cheeks with a sharp shell. Maybe it was the shell of a razor clam. But at least it took the whiskers off dandily. And pretty soon a little cavegirl wandered by and rubbed the caveman’s smooth cheek fondly. 1966 April 3, Art Vinsel, “Gadzooks! Where Did All the Hirsutes Come From?”, in Independent-Press-Telegram, volume 14, number 31, Long Beach, Calif., page eight:
   • He was a short man with a long hooked nose. A blue skull-cap with a red border scarcely covered his head of bristly grey hair, and a short-bodied but long Ringerike coat of dark grey frieze with worn velvet borders served to make the roundness and crookedness of his back still more conspicuous. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 285:
2. Easily antagonized; irascible; prone to bristling.

Forms

Deriveds

bristly bellflower · painted bristly mouse · bristly foxtail · bristly Matilija poppy · bristly hawksbeard · bristliness · bristly mouse

Translations (23)

cy gwrychlyd (covered with bristles) · es cerdudo (covered with bristles) · tr kıllı (covered with bristles) · ru колю́чий (covered with bristles) · es cerdón (covered with bristles) · cs zarostlý (covered with bristles) · xal ширвһр (covered with bristles) · cs neoholený (covered with bristles) · ga mosach (covered with bristles) · eo hirta (covered with bristles) · la saetōsus (covered with bristles) · ru щети́нистый (covered with bristles) · cs ježatý (covered with bristles) · cy gwrychog (covered with bristles) · cs rozježený (covered with bristles) · ru жёсткий (covered with bristles) · pon doakoadok (covered with bristles) · ga guaireach (covered with bristles) · ca cerrut (covered with bristles) · es cerdoso (covered with bristles) · ga mosach (easily antagonized; irascible; prone to bristling) · sv borstig (covered with bristles) · cs štětinatý (covered with bristles)