Knotty

/ˈnɒti/ · adjective

Meaning

Of string or something stringlike: full of, or tied up, in knots..

Definitions by Sense

1. Of string or something stringlike: full of, or tied up, in knots.
2. Of a part of the body, a tree, etc.: full of knots (knobs or swellings); gnarled, knobbly.
3. Complicated or tricky; complex, difficult.
4. Of an austere or hard nature; rugged.

Example Sentences

I could a Tale vnfold, vvhoſe lighteſt vvord / VVould harrovv vp thy ſoule, freeze thy young blood, / Make thy tvvo eyes like Starres, ſtart from their Spheres, / Thy knotty and combined locks to part, / And each particular haire to ſtand an end, / Like Quilles vpon the fretfull Porpentine: […]

Their heads are long, their haire curld, and ſeeming rather wooll, then haire; tis blacke and knotty: […]

a knotty pine

If thou murmur'ſt, I vvwill rend an Oake / And peg thee in his knotty entrailes, till / Thou haſt hovvl'd avvay tvvelve vvinters.

How oft on Sundays, when I'd time to tramp, / My rambles led me to a gipsy's camp, / Where the real effigy of midnight hags, / With tawny smoked flesh and tatter'd rags, / Uncouth-brimm'd hat, and weather-beathen cloak, / 'Neath the wild shelter of a knotty oak, / Along the greensward uniformly pricks / Her pliant bending hazel's arching sticks; […]

a knotty problem

crop-headed, short-haired

As for the Paſſions and Studies of the Minde, Auoid Enuie; Anxious Feares; Anger fretting invvards; Subtill and knottie Inquiſitions; Ioyes, and Exhilarations in Exceſſe; Sadneſſe not Communicated.

Synonyms for knotty

Antonyms for knotty

Related Words

Word Forms

• knottier
• more knotty
• knottiest
• most knotty

Usage Notes

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