adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Archaic form of spinney. alt-of, archaic

Adjective

1. 1
   Covered in spines or thorns.
2. 2
   Troublesome; difficult or vexing.

   "The spiney desarts of scholastic philosophy"

3. 3
   Like a spine in shape; slender.

   "And, as in well-growne woods, on trees, cold ſpinie Graſhoppers / Sit chirping, […]"

Adjective

1. 1
   having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc. wordnet
2. 2
   having spines wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

spinousthornypricklythornyabstruseacanthoid

Antonyms

All antonyms

spinelessunspinedunspiny

Example

More examples

"I'm allergic to Japanese spiny lobster."

Etymology

From spine + -y.

Related phrases

Neotropical spiny ratSolomon Island spiny monitorTexas spiny lizardgraphic spiny lizardmedium spiny neuronspiny anteaterspiny bamboospiny broomspiny cockleburspiny corianderspiny dogfishspiny eel

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.