spikey

Adjective (1)

spiky (not generally comparable, comparative spikier or more spiky, superlative spikiest or most spiky)

1. (not comparable, usually) Of a plant: producing spikes (“ears (as of corn); inflorescences in which sessile flowers are arranged on unbranched elongated axes”).
   • [T]he harvest maids began to look knowingly to their partners, who, taking the hint, sprang to their feet, hauled up their sweet abettors, were mated in a moment, and commenced a dance among the stubble, so brisk, that the tall harvest of spiky wheat, standing by, rustled and nodded to them on its...1828 December, T. A., “‘Buy a Broom?’. Chapter I.”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume XXIV, part I, number CXLVI, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 711...
2. (comparable, not comparable, usually) Of a plant part: resembling a spike of a plant (see above).
   • Of this kinde, there is founde an other, the Spikes, eares, or torches wherof, are very dubble, ſo as in euery Spyky eare, in ſteede of the little knappes or heades, it bringeth forth a number of other ſmal torches, wherof eche one is lyke to the ſpike or torch of great Plantayne. […] The ſtalkes...1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Plantayne or Waybrede”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC...

Adjective (2)

spiky (comparative spikier or more spiky, superlative spikiest or most spiky)

1. Having one or more spikes; spiny.
   • The ſpiky VVheels thro' Heaps of Carnage tore; / And thick the groaning Axles dropp'd vvith Gore.1720, Homer, “Book XX”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume V, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 222, lines 585–586
2. Resembling spikes: erect and having sharp points; spikelike.
   • [I]f ten thousand of this spiky tree, the larch, are stuck in at once upon the side of a hill, they can grow up into nothing but deformity; […]1810, William Wordsworth, “Topographical Description of the Country of the Lakes in the North of England”, in The River Duddon: A Series of Sonnets: Vaudracour and Julia; and Other Poems. […]...
3. (figuratively) Of a person or their nature: difficult to deal with; abrasive, hostile, unfriendly.
   • a spiky personality

   Synonyms:

   prickly, thorny

4. (figuratively) Of a thing: not smooth; rough, sharp.
   • It started with Ron [Phillips] soloing on "He Wasn't Talking to Me," a quiet and wistful ballad that segued into the upbeat and spiky "Give Me a Man Who's Glad to Be Gay." This was a pride anthem about being gay with a few nudges at those carrying their closets with them to the bars (Straight...1988 April 16, Jim Fauntleroy, “Intimate Entertainment: A Playful Evening with Romanovsky and Phillips”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 38, Boston, Mass.: The Bromfield Street Educational...

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