spiky Hear it!

spiky Definition

spiky (spī)

adjective spiki·er, spiki·est

  1. shaped like a spike; long and pointed
  2. having spikes
  3. Brit., Informal not amiable or companionable; bristling, irascible, etc.

spiky Related Forms

spiki·ness noun

spiky Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • hair: I'd like some spiky blond hair, like Howard Jones.
  • fragment: Interestingly, in addition to the high proportion of spiky fragments, pit fills include an above average proportion of rounded fragments.
  • guitar: Bedroom pop with a penchant for home made sounds and spiky guitars.
  • grass: The heat from the early morning sun warmed his face, the spiky grass poking through the gaps in the sleeves of his shirt.
  • fruit: The female flowers are followed by decorative, brown, spiky fruits.
  • profile: The report uses the term ' spiky profile ' .

Modifying Another Word

  • very: She wasn't the only woman in the city that Saturday afternoon with very short, very spiky, very red hair.
  • quite: Preservation was recorded as ' good ' throughout, while angularity was generally ' spiky ' or ' quite spiky ' .
  • suitably: The thorn trees look suitably spiky and you certainly know not to land on them if you can help it.
  • slightly: The different narratives are indicated by a subtle change in the typeface -- the interior life is a slightly darker, slightly spikier script.
  • so: Just the two songs from a chap with hair so spiky he could walk into the Hibs midfield in an instant.
  • generally: From Crete and one or two small areas of Turkey, it has attractive silvery-grey leaves and a generally spiky, architectural appearance.

Used with adjective complement

  • get: When Naota transformed his hair would get really spiky with dark red highlights.
  • have: He was quite tall and buff and had spiky, brown hair.