spiky

Meanings

1. Of a plant: producing spikes (“ears (as of corn); inflorescences in which sessile flowers are arranged on unbranched elongated axes”).
2. Of a plant part: resembling a spike of a plant (see above).

1. Having one or more spikes; spiny.
2. Resembling spikes: erect and having sharp points; spikelike.
3. Of a person or their nature: difficult to deal with; abrasive, hostile, unfriendly.
4. Of a thing: not smooth; rough, sharp.
5. Excessively high church (“practising a formal style of liturgy and emphasizing continuity with Catholicism”).

Etymology

From spike (“kind of inflorescence in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense “having the quality of”). Spike is derived from Middle English spik, spike (“ear of grain; clove of garlic; plant having spikes; plant of the genus Valeriana, especially Valeriana officinalis; plant of the genus Lavandula, lavender”), from Latin spīca (“ear, head, or spike of grain; plant spike”) (feminine) (also rarely spīcum (neuter) and spīcus (masculine)), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“long; sharp; thin”).