Thorn″y (?), a. [Compar.Thornier (?); superl.Thorniest.] [Cf. AS. þorniht.] 1. Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; spiny; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny crown.
2. Like a thorn or thorns; hence, figuratively, troublesome; vexatious; harassing; perplexing. “The thorny point of bare distress.” Shak.
The steep and thorny way to heaven. Shak.
Thorny rest-harrow(Bot.), rest-harrow. — Thorny trefoil, a prickly plant of the genus Fagonia (F. Cretica, etc.).