| Thorny 1. (superl.) Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; spiny; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny crown. 2. (superl.) Like a thorn or thorns; hence, figuratively, troublesome; vexatious; harassing; perplexing. Thesaurus Entries Herculean, abstruse, acanaceous, acanthoid, aciculate, aculeolate, arduous, barbed, barbellate, brambly, briery, bristly, brutal, complex, complicated, controversial, critical, delicate, demanding, difficile, difficult, exacting, formidable, hairy, hard, hard-earned, hard-fought, intricate, involved, jawbreaking, knotted, knotty, laborious, mean, muricate, nasty, nettlesome, no picnic, not easy, operose, painful, pricking, prickly, pricky, problematic, rigorous, rough, rugged, set with thorns, setaceous, setose, severe, spiculate, spiculose, spiked, spinous, spiny, steep, sticky, stinging, strenuous, tangled, thistly, ticklish, toilsome, tough, tricky, troublesome, uphill, vexatious, wicked, worrying |