bristly C2 Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈbɹɪsli/ See IPA manual Freq #70711 Meanings 1 adj having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc. A horse with a short bristly mane. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · having or covered with... burred More hirsutethistly ↔ Opposites downy Word family Forms bristlierbristliest Derived forms bristliness Etymology From Middle English bristli, brustly, equivalent to bristle + -y. bristli Middle English View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # bristly **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈbɹɪsli/ **Frequency rank:** 70711 ## Meanings 1. having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc. ## Examples - A horse with a short bristly mane. ## Synonyms - burred - hirsute - thistly ## Antonyms - downy ## Derived Forms - bristliness ## Roots and Affixes - Root: bristli ## Etymology From Middle English bristli, brustly, equivalent to bristle + -y. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown