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bristling

ADJECTIVE
bushy
Synonyms
STRONGEST
fluffy fuzzy hairy luxuriant unruly wiry
WEAK
bristly disordered feathery fringed full furry heavy hirsute prickly rough rumpled spreading stiff thick tufted woolly
Antonyms
STRONGEST
smooth
WEAK
bald neat well-kept
ADJECTIVE
echinate
Synonyms
WEAK
barbed briery echinated prickly pricky spiked spiky spiny thistly
ADJECTIVE
fraught
Synonyms
STRONGEST
charged filled replete
WEAK
abounding attended heavy laden stuffed
Antonyms
WEAK
empty
ADJECTIVE
pricky
Synonyms
WEAK
barbed briery bristly echinate prickly spiked spiky spinous spiny stinging thistly
ADJECTIVE
teeming
Synonyms
STRONGEST
brimming filled overflowing packed swarming
STRONG
bursting crammed crawling replete thronged
WEAK
alive brimful chock-full fruitful multitudinous numerous plentiful populous pregnant rife thick
Antonyms
STRONGEST
empty
WEAK
lacking needing wanting
ADJECTIVE
thick
Synonyms
STRONGEST
abundant dense full impenetrable tight
STRONG
close compact great rank solid
WEAK
brimming bursting chock-full compressed concentrated condensed considerable covered crammed crawling with frequent heaped impervious inspissated like sardines localized multitudinous numerous populated populous profuse replete several swarming teeming
Antonyms
STRONGEST
open sparse thin
STRONG
loose
WEAK
attenuated clear diluted intelligent reasonable sensible slight smart uncrowded unfriendly unsociable watery wise
ADJECTIVE
thistly
Synonyms
WEAK
barbed briery bristly echinate prickly pricky spiked spiky spinous spiny stinging
ADJECTIVE
thorny
Synonyms
STRONGEST
prickly spiky
WEAK
arrowlike barbed briery bristly spiked spinous spiny stinging thistly
Antonyms
WEAK
dull easy smooth solvable unpointed untroublesome
NOUN
roughness
Synonyms
STRONG
break bumpiness coarseness crack hairiness jaggedness nick raggedness scratch shagginess unevenness
WEAK
beardedness brokenness bushiness crinkledness ragged edge woolliness wrinkledness
Antonyms
WEAK
courtesy evenness gentility kindness politeness regularity smoothness

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

High overhead, military aircraft bristling with antennas and probes scan surrounding waters.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

But in terms of its actual content, the statement was pretty thin gruel, bristling with public relations-style circumlocution and vagueness.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 27, 2026

Messi and his team-mates will head into the final bristling with confidence after another ruthless, high-scoring demolition job that followed on from their 4-0 drubbing of FC Cincinnati in the previous round.

From Barron's • Nov. 30, 2025

The tower is bristling with high-tech instruments - sensors that track almost everything happening between the forest and the atmosphere: water vapor, carbon dioxide, sunlight, and essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus.

From BBC • Nov. 16, 2025

Back to back, Torak and Renn faced a bristling circle of arrows.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver