Source : WordNet®

prickly
     adj 1: very irritable; "bristly exchanges between the White House
            and the press"; "he became prickly and spiteful";
            "witty and waspish about his colleagues" [syn: {bristly},
             {splenetic}, {waspish}]
     2: having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines
        or thorns or setae etc.; "a horse with a short bristly
        mane"; "bristly shrubs"; "burred fruits"; "setaceous
        whiskers" [syn: {barbed}, {barbellate}, {briary}, {briery},
         {bristled}, {bristly}, {burred}, {burry}, {setose}, {setaceous},
         {spiny}, {thorny}]
     [also: {prickliest}, {pricklier}]

pricklier
     See {prickly}