Synonyms for bristling
- bridle
- fume
- seethe
- boil
- flare
- rage
- rise
- ruffle
- spit
- swell
- be angry
- be infuriated
- be maddened
- blow up
- boil over
- flare up
- get one's dander up
- see red
- stand on end
Antonyms for bristling
EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR BRISTLING
We could see the shafts of the darts fast in the cleft, bristling in the moonlight.
"See you in Guinea first," muttered Bandy-legs, bristling up.
Ah, that beautiful and mysterious shore, all bristling with rocks!
Slowly, slowly, the bristling ball straightened out and lengthened.
He faced the boy, bristling and snarling, his sense of justice outraged.
They half circled about each other, tentatively, snarling and bristling.
The men-folk were allowed no nearer than the fringe of their bristling skirts.
"I am glad of that," said Sir Terence, who had been bristling.
Impetuous as he was inconsequent, M. de Kercadiou was bristling again.
The bristling mane, so thick and wolfish, fairly quivered in its rigidity.
WORD ORIGIN
Old English byrst "bristle," with metathesis of -r-, from Proto-Germanic *bursti- (cf. Middle Dutch borstel, German borste), from PIE *bhrsti- from root *bhars- "point, bristle" (cf. Sanskrit bhrstih "point, spike"). With -el, diminutive suffix.