🇬🇧🇪🇸 spiky - irritable : English Lesson

Meaning of "spiky" ("irritable"), detailed definition, and a short video lesson below.

If someone is spiky, they get annoyed very quickly and talk or act in a rude, sharp way, like they are covered in invisible grumpy spikes that can poke other people’s feelings.

Grandpa gets spiky when I ask him how old he is, like I just poked a porcupine.

The spiky superhero saved the city, then yelled at everyone for clapping wrong.

My spiky babysitter said fun was illegal after 7 p.m.

The dragon wasn’t scary; it was just very spiky every time someone called it “cute.”

I asked my sister to share her fries and she gave me such a spiky look that the ketchup backed off.

Her spiky tone cut across the room. Her spiky replies shut the conversation and made people look down. Her spiky face turned away. The spiky cross of her arms kept everyone quiet. A gentle joke softened the spiky edge. She stood, packed her bag, touched a friend's hand, paused, then smiled and stayed.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

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