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Thorny vs Intricate - What's the difference?

thorny | intricate | Related terms |

Thorny is a related term of intricate.


As adjectives the difference between thorny and intricate

is that thorny is having thorns or spines while intricate is having a great deal of fine detail or complexity.

As a verb intricate is

to become enmeshed or entangled.

thorny

English

Adjective

(er)
  • having thorns or spines
  • troublesome or vexatious
  • * Shakespeare
    • the steep and thorny way to heaven
  • aloof and irritable
  • * Louisa May Alcott, Good Wives
    • 'Come, Jo, don't be thorny . After studying himself to a skeleton all the week, a fellow deserves petting, and ought to get it.'

    Derived terms

    * (l) * thorny restharrow * thorny trefoil

    Anagrams

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    intricate

    English

    Alternative forms

    * entricate

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) intricatus'' (past participle of ''intricare ).

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having a great deal of fine detail or complexity.
  • :
  • *(Joseph Addison) (1672–1719)
  • *:His style was fit to convey the most intricate business to the understanding with the utmost clearness.
  • *
  • *:As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermiculations of what some disrespectfully dubbed as “near-aissance.”

    • Etymology 2

    As the adjective; or by analogy with extricate

    Verb

    (intricat)
  • To become enmeshed or entangled.
  • * 1864 October 18, J.E. Freund, “ How to Avoid the Use of Lint”, letter to the editor, in The New York Times (1864 October 23):
    • washes off easily, without sticking or intricating into the wound.
  • To enmesh or entangle: to cause to intricate.
  • * 1994 December 12, , “ Avoid Dunkirk II” (essay), in The New York Times :
    • But the British and French won't hear of that; they want to get their troops extricated and our ground troops intricated .

    Anagrams

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