| Main Entry: | thorny |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sharp, pointed |
Synonyms: |
arrowlike, barbed, briery, bristling, bristly, prickly, spiked, spiky, spinous, spiny, stinging, thistly |
Antonyms: |
dull, smooth, unpointed |
| Main Entry: | thorny |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, problematic |
Synonyms: |
awkward, baffling, bothersome, formidable, harassing, hard, irksome, nettlesome, perplexing, prickly, severe, sticky, ticklish, tough, tricky, troublesome, trying, unpleasant, upsetting, vexatious, worrying |
Antonyms: |
easy, solvable, untroublesome |
| Main Entry: | awkward |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | embarrassing |
Synonyms: |
compromising, delicate, difficult, embarrassed, ill at ease, inconvenient, inopportune, painful, perplexing, sticky*, thorny, ticklish, troublesome, trying, uncomfortable, unpleasant, untimely |
Antonyms: |
clever |
| Main Entry: | dangerous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hazardous, troubling |
Synonyms: |
alarming, bad, breakneck, chancy, critical, dangersome, deadly, delicate, dynamite, exposed, fatal, formidable, hairy*, heavy*, hot*, impending, impregnable, insecure, jeopardous, loaded, malignant, menacing, mortal, nasty, on collision course, parlous, perilous, portentous, precarious, pressing, queasy, risky, serious, serpentine, shaky, speculative, terrible, thorny, threatening, ticklish, touch-and-go, touchy, treacherous, ugly*, unhealthy, unsafe, unstable, urgent, viperous, vulnerable, wicked |
Antonyms: |
careful, guarded, safe, secure, unhazardous, untroubled |
| Main Entry: | difficult |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | complicated; hard to comprehend |
Synonyms: |
abstract, abstruse, baffling, bewildering, complex, confounding, confusing, dark, deep, delicate, enigmatic, enigmatical, entangled, esoteric, formidable, hard to explain, hard to solve, hidden, inexplicable, intricate, involved, knotty, labyrinthine, loose, meandering, mysterious, mystical, mystifying, nice, obscure, obstinate, paradoxical, perplexing, problematical, profound, puzzling, rambling, subtle, tangled, thorny, ticklish, troublesome, unclear, unfathomable, unintelligible, vexing |
Antonyms: |
easy, simple, straightforward, uncomplicated |
| Main Entry: | knotty |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | troublesome |
Synonyms: |
Gordian, baffling, complex, complicated, difficult, effortful, elaborate, formidable, hard, intricate, involved, labyrinthine, mazy, mystifying, nodulous, perplexing, problematical, puzzling, ramified, reticular, rough, rugged, sophisticated, sticky*, terrible, thorny, tough, tricky, uphill |
Antonyms: |
simple, uncomplicated, untroublesome |
| Main Entry: | perplexing |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult to understand |
Synonyms: |
baffling, beyond one, complicated, confusing, convoluted, disconcerting, impenetrable, intricate, involved, knotty, mind-bending, mysterious, mystifying, paradoxical, puzzling, taxing, thorny, worrying |
| Main Entry: | sharp |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | knifelike, cutting |
Synonyms: |
aciculate, acuate, acuminate, acuminous, acute, apical, barbed, briery, cuspate, cuspidate, edged, fine, ground fine, honed, horned, jagged, keen, keen-edged, knife-edged, needle-pointed, needlelike, peaked, pointed, pointy, prickly, pronged, razor-sharp, salient, serrated, sharp-edged, sharpened, spiked, spiky, spiny, splintery, stinging, tapered, tapering, thorny, tined, tipped, unblunted, whetted |
Antonyms: |
blunt, dull |
| Main Entry: | sticky |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, embarrassing |
Synonyms: |
awkward, delicate, discomforting, formidable, hairy*, hard, heavy*, knotty, laborious, nasty, operose, painful, rough, rugged, strenuous, thorny, tricky, unpleasant |
Antonyms: |
easy, facile, pleasant |
| Main Entry: | ticklish |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, tricky |
Synonyms: |
awkward, capricious, chancy, changeable, critical, dangerous, delicate, fickle, inconstant, mercurial, nice, precarious, risky, rocky, sensitive, temperamental, thorny, touchy, trying, uncertain, unstable, unsteady, variable, volatile |
Antonyms: |
easy, straightforward, unproblematic |