Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

θ	thin	ð	this	ʃ	she	ʒ	measure
tʃ	church	dʒ	judge	ŋ	sing	j	yes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

-s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
-ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
-ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

prickly

adjective, adverb, noun

Forms pricklier prickliest pricklies

adjective Covered with sharp points. “The prickly pear is a cactus; you have to peel it before eating it to remove the spines and the tough skin.”
adjective (figurative) Easily irritated; thorny. “He has a prickly personality. He doesn't get along with people because he is easily set off.”
adjective (figurative) Difficult; complicated; hairy or thorny. “It was a prickly situation.”
adverb In a prickly manner.
noun (colloquial) Something that gives a pricking sensation; a sharp object.
noun (US, chiefly education, psychology) A person who favours formal, structured, organized settings.

Synonyms

From prickle + -y.

adjective Full of sharp points or prickles; armed or covered with prickles; as, a prickly shrub. Prickly ash (Bot.), a prickly shrub (Xanthoxylum Americanum) with yellowish flowers appearing with the leaves. All parts of the plant are pungent and aromatic. The southern species is X. Carolinianum. Gray.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “prickly”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “prickly” (best matches first).

कवस kavasa armour, a coat of mail; a prickly shrub.
स्पृशी spṛśī the prickly nightshade, Solanum Jacquini.
हिङ्गुलिका hiṅgulikā the prickly nightshade, Solanum Jacquini.
धावनिका dhāvanikā a kind of prickly nightshade, = kaṇṭa-kārikā.
प्रचोदिन् pra-codin driving forward, urging; ( inī ), f. prickly nightshade, Solanum Jacquini.
कुलि kuli the hand; ( is ), f., name of a plant, = kaṇṭakārī, a prickly nightshade.
निदिग्धिका nidigdhikā = kaṇṭa-kārikā, a species of prickly nightshade, Solanum Jacquini; cardamoms.
अनाक्रान्त an-ākrānta unassailed, unassailable; ( ā ), f. a plant, Prickly Nightshade, Solanum Jacquini.