prickliness
prickliness — noun
1. the way something feels when it is rough and covered with small sharp points, or
the way something feels when it is rough and covered with small sharp points, or the way a person behaves when they get annoyed or offended very easily
Mizuki touched the cactus and felt the prickliness of its tiny needles.
prickliness of + physical object (literal sense)
There was a clear prickliness in Christopher's voice when his plans were questioned.
prickliness in [person's] voice/manner (figurative sense)
The gardener warned Rania about the prickliness of the rose stems before she picked them.
Years of harsh criticism explained the old writer's prickliness toward young reporters.
Tendai laughed off the prickliness of the wool sweater that scratched his neck.
- irritability
figurative only; the tendency to get annoyed quickly
- touchiness
figurative; being easily offended by small things
- spininess
literal only; having many sharp spines, mostly of plants
- smoothness
literal opposite; a soft, even surface
- easygoingness
figurative opposite; a relaxed, hard-to-annoy manner
文法句型
the prickliness of [someone/something]
用法筆記
Uncountable, and used with both a physical meaning (a thorny, scratchy surface) and a figurative one (a touchy, easily annoyed manner). In everyday speech the figurative sense about people is now the more common one.