spiky
/ˈspaɪki/
spiky adjective: of a plant: producing spikes (“ears (as of corn); inflorescences in which sessile flowers are arranged on unbranched elongated axes”).
Adjective (1)
spiky (not generally comparable, comparative spikier or more spiky, superlative spikiest or most spiky)
- 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...
- [T]he irritation [hay fever] has generally been ascribed rather to the odour of sweet-vernal-grass and scented holcus than to the distinctive action of the pollen itself. The latter species is unknown in English meadows, but sweet-vernal-grass is familiar to most of us as the peculiar spiky plant...1884 June 13, “Hay Fever”, in The Pall Mall Budget: Being a Weekly Collection of Articles Printed in the Pall Mall Gazette from Day to Day: […], volume XXXII, number 820, London: […] Richard Lambert...
- 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...
- [D]iverſ hairy Stalks, about a hand breadth high, bearing every one a ſmall long ſpiky Head like to thoſe of the common Plantane, having ſuch like Bloomings and Seed after them.1652, Nich[olas] Culpeper, “Bucks-horn Plantane”, in The English Physitian: Or An Astrologo-physical Discourse of the Vulgar Herbs of This Nation. […], London: […] Peter Cole, […], →OCLC, page 22...
Adjective (2)
spiky (comparative spikier or more spiky, superlative spikiest or most spiky)
- 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
- Three ornithischian dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of North America may be growth stages of the same one species. Dracorex is smallest and spikiest. Stygimoloch is medium-sized and has the longest horns. Pachycephalosaurus is the biggest and also the least spikiest, but it has the largest...2016, Darren Naish, Paul Barrett, “Biology, Ecology and Behaviour”, in Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved, London: Natural History Museum; Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, →ISBN, image...
- 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. […]...
- At first, he slept heavily, but, by degrees, began to roll and surge in bed, until he rose above the surface, with his spiky hair looking as if it must tear the sheets to ribbons.1859, Charles Dickens, “Five Years Later”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book II (The Golden Thread), page 35
- Of a person or their nature: difficult to deal with; abrasive, hostile, unfriendly.
- a spiky personality
- 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...
- Excessively high church (“practising a formal style of liturgy and emphasizing continuity with Catholicism”).
- I wondered if this meant he was a spiky Anglo-Catholic, which seemed a little unlikely, given that Norfolk's spiky hotspots are well-known.2022 January, Simon Knott, “All Saints, Litcham”, in norfolkchurches.co.uk
- That was when pink gin was still a favoured drink among Anglo-Catholics, and no self-respecting spiky curate could be without it.2019 January 4, Graham James, “Diary: Graham James”, in Church Times
spiky meaning in Urdu and Bengali
spiky in Urdu
- نوکیلی
spiky in Bengali
- কাঁটাযুক্ত, সূক্ষ্ম অগ্রভাগবিশিষ্ট
Examples of spiky in a sentence
- The latter species is unknown in English meadows, but sweet-vernal-grass is familiar to most of us as the peculiar spiky plant to which new-mown hay owes with us the whole of its delicious fragrance.1884 June 13, “Hay Fever”, in The Pall Mall Budget: Being a Weekly Collection of Articles Printed in the Pall Mall Gazette from Day to Day...
- Then he felt, not another crumpled rose, but a thorn; a dozen spiky thorns sticking into him in the most cruel manner.1895, Walter Besant, “The Equal Woman”, in In Deacon’s Orders etc., London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, section II, page 126:
Synonyms of spiky
Forms of spiky
| comparative | spikier |
|---|---|
| comparative | more spiky |
| superlative | spikiest |
| superlative | most spiky |
| alternative form | spikey |
Origin of spiky
From spike (“kind of inflorescence in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense “having the quality of”). Spike is derived from Middle English spik, spike (“ear of grain; clove of garlic; plant having spikes; plant of the genus Valeriana, especially Valeriana officinalis; plant of the genus Lavandula, lavender”), from Latin spīca (“ear, head, or spike of grain; plant spike”) (feminine) (also rarely spīcum (neuter) and spīcus (masculine)), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“long; sharp; thin”).
From spike (“piece of pointed metal, etc.”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense “having the quality of”). Spike is derived from Middle English spik, spike (“large metal (usually iron) nail; thing shaped like such a nail”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Middle Dutch spiker (“large nail”), Middle Low German spiker (“large nail”), or Old Norse spík (“spike; sprig”), all possibly from Latin spīca (“ear, head, or spike of grain; plant spike”) (see further at etymology 1), or from Proto-Germanic *spīkō (“large nail, spike”), both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“long; sharp; thin”).
Words formed from spiky
Words that rhyme with spiky
Questions about spiky
- What does spiky mean?
- Spiky means of a plant: producing spikes (“ears (as of corn); inflorescences in which sessile flowers are arranged on unbranched elongated axes”).
- What is spiky in Urdu?
- Spiky in Urdu is نوکیلی. See Spiky meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use spiky in a sentence?
- The latter species is unknown in English meadows, but sweet-vernal-grass is familiar to most of us as the peculiar spiky plant to which new-mown hay owes with us the whole of its delicious fragrance.
- What part of speech is spiky?
- Spiky is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce spiky?
- Spiky is pronounced /ˈspaɪki/ (UK).
Words near spiky in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: spiky (page history and authors); spiky (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spiky (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spiky.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-spiky.wav.
Cite this entry: “spiky.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spiky. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.