It is better to be stung by a nettle than pricked by a rose.
Source: tatoeba (35086)
Nettle
/[ˈnɛɾʊl]/
Synonyms for "nettle" (161 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (33)
Strong matches (48)
Related words (80)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: aggravate, agitate, anger, annoy, annoy.
- Sentence evidence is available for nettle, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from moby, derived_reverse, opengloss, wordnet, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "nettle".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "nettle"
Keep "nettle" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "nettle" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "nettle", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "nettle" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
14 entriesMore specific
8 entriesCollocations
10 entriescommon nettlenettle leafnettle plantnettle public opinionnettle the audiencenettle the debatenettle the nervesnettle the skinstinging nettleurtica dioica
Inflections
3 entriesDerivations
4 entriessimilar
2 entriesTranslations
155 translations across 113 languages.
Abkhaz
1 entries- ахәац noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Albanian
1 entries- hithëra noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Ancient Greek
2 entries- κνίδη noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- ἀδίκη noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Andi
1 entries- мичӏчӏи noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Arabic
4 entries- أَنْجَرَة noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- حُرَّيْق noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- قراص noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- قُرَّاص noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Aragonese
1 entries- chordiga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Archi
1 entries- мач noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Armenian
1 entries- եղինջ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Aromanian
2 entries- urdzicã noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- urdzãcã noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Assamese
2 entries- চোৰাত noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- চোৰাত পাত noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Asturian
2 entries- ortiga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- urtiga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Avar
1 entries- мичӏ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- gicitikən noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Bashkir
1 entries- кесерткән noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Basque
1 entries- asun noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Belarusian
1 entries- крапіва noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Bulgarian
1 entries- коприва noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Burmese
1 entries- ဖက်ယား noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Catalan
1 entries- ortiga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Central Kurdish
1 entries- گەزگەسِک noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Chechen
1 entries- нитташ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 蕁麻 /荨麻 noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Chuvash
1 entries- вӗлтӗрен noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Czech
1 entries- kopřiva noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Dacian
1 entries- dyn noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Danish
2 entries- brændenælde noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- nælde noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Dutch
2 entries- brandnetel noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- netel noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Eastern Mari
1 entries- нуж noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Esperanto
1 entries- urtiko noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Estonian
1 entries- nõges noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Faroese
2 entries- brenninota noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- nota noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Finnish
1 entries- nokkonen noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
French
1 entries- ortie noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Friulian
1 entries- urtie noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Galician
2 entries- estruga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- ortiga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Georgian
2 entries- ჭახიანა noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- ჭინჭარი noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
German
2 entries- Brennnessel noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- Nessel noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Gilaki
1 entries- گرزنه noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Greek
1 entries- τσουκνίδα noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Hebrew
1 entries- סרפד noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Hungarian
1 entries- csalán noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Ido
1 entries- urtiko noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Inari Sami
1 entries- käskee noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Ingrian
2 entries- poltikas noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- poltikkain noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Interlingua
1 entries- urtica noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Irish
2 entries- cál faiche (nettles) noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- neantóg noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Italian
1 entries- ortica noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Japanese
1 entries- 蕁麻 noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Kalmyk
1 entries- көгсн noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Karachay-Balkar
1 entries- мурса noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Kazakh
1 entries- қалақай noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Khakas
2 entries- салғанах noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- сахчаң от noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Khinalug
1 entries- мычӏ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Komi-Zyrian
1 entries- петшӧр noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Korean
1 entries- 쐐기풀 noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Kumyk
1 entries- къычытгъан noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Kyrgyz
1 entries- чалкан noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Lak
1 entries- мечӏ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Latgalian
1 entries- ņuotre noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Latin
1 entries- urtīca noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Latvian
1 entries- nātre noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Laz
1 entries- დიჭკიჯი noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Lithuanian
1 entries- dilgėlė noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Lower Sorbian
1 entries- kopśiwa noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Luxembourgish
1 entries- Brennnessel noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Macedonian
1 entries- коприва noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Malay
1 entries- jelatang noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Maltese
1 entries- ħurrieqa noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Mingrelian
1 entries- ჭუჭელე noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Mongolian
1 entries- халгай noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Māori
2 entries- ongaonga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- taraonga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Nanai
1 entries- пиктэ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Navajo
1 entries- hołchʼíʼí noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Neapolitan
1 entries- ardica noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Northern Kurdish
1 entries- gezgezok noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Norwegian Bokmål
2 entries- brennesle noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- nesle noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Norwegian Nynorsk
2 entries- brennesle noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- nesle noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Old Armenian
1 entries- եղիճ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Old Norse
1 entries- nata noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Persian
1 entries- گزنه noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Polabian
2 entries- zogăvai̯ćă noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- ťüpraivă noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Polish
1 entries- pokrzywa noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Portuguese
2 entries- ortiga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- urtiga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Romanian
1 entries- urzică noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Russian
1 entries- крапи́ва noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Scottish Gaelic
1 entries- deanntag noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- kopriva noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- žara noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- жара noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- коприва noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Shor
1 entries- шалғанақ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Sicilian
4 entries- ardìcula noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- furdìcula noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- furricu noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- lardica noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Slovak
2 entries- pŕhľava noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- žihľava noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Slovene
1 entries- kopriva noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Southern Altai
1 entries- чалкан noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Spanish
1 entries- ortiga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Svan
1 entries- მერხელ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Swedish
2 entries- brännässla noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- nässla noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Sylheti
2 entries- ꠌꠥꠔꠞꠣ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- ꠌꠥꠔꠞꠣ ꠙꠣꠔꠣ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Tajik
2 entries- газна noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- сӯзгиёҳ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Tarifit
1 entries- tayzint noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Tatar
1 entries- кычыткан noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Tongan
2 entries- hongohongo noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- ngohongoho noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Turkish
1 entries- ısırgan noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Turkmen
1 entries- iteşen noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Tuvan
1 entries- шагар-оът noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Udi
1 entries- мечӏ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Ukrainian
1 entries- кропива́ noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Upper Sorbian
1 entries- kopřiwa noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Uzbek
2 entries- gazanda oʻt noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- qichitqi oʻt noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Venetan
4 entries- altriga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- antriga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- oltriga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- ontriga noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Vietnamese
1 entries- tầm ma noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Welsh
1 entries- danhadlen noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Xhosa
2 entries- umbabazane noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
- uralijane noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Yakut
1 entries- ытырыык от noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Yiddish
1 entries- קראָפּעווע noun (stinging herb of genus Urtica)
Sample sentences
16 total sentences available.
I found a very good drug for nettle rash.
Source: tatoeba (2062348)
Some traditional garments in the Philippines are made of linen and cotton; others are woven with fibres from banana or pineapple leaves or from the bark of a nettle plant.
Source: tatoeba (5641174)
The nettle tree gives sweet micocolli.
Source: tatoeba (7116693)
Showing 4 of 16 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "nettle"?
Closest matches include aggravate, agitate, anger, annoy, annoy.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "nettle"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.