Thistly

His Scotch blood (for that he was of Scotch descent there could be no manner of doubt) gave him just the kind of thistly dignity which made every one feel that they must treat him with respect; so on that head he was assured. ❋ Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1837)

Don't let the thistly foliage scare you - they won't overrun your garden. ❋ Unknown (2009)

Fanning out a handful of blue Pelican popular philosophy books from the 1950s, one encounters on the back a series of passport-sized pictures showing granite-faced, set-jawed gentlemen in late middle age, accessorised with a pipe, a thistly tweed jacket or patent leather hair. ❋ Sharon Bakar (2005)

There were several thistly decisions facing the Council of Lords at this gathering. ❋ Hobb, Robin (2005)

Secure, innocent, peaceful, where then was that “thistly sorrow” that grows inevitably, so Cowper said, beside human happiness? ❋ Unknown (2004)

Fred crossed the dry, thistly lawn and stopped in front of the old brick building with the flagpoles that Harvey would never let him piss on. ❋ Unknown (2004)

He scuttled after him, ignoring the switching cuts of the blades and the thistly ground. ❋ Attanasio, A. A. (1984)

It was a thornwing, a crumpled mass of thistly, snarled twine with a tiny hooked head at the crest of its amorphous shape. ❋ Attanasio, A. A. (1984)

"His equal" is the correct answer: but even so demure and proper a support to thistly theology was to the ears that heard it as the hand of ❋ Anonymous (N/A)

But humanity had one little revenge on her in the shape of her cat, a beautiful Maltese, with great yellow eyes, fur as soft as velvet, and silvery paws as lovely to look at as they were thistly to touch. ❋ Various (N/A)

On visiting the spot on the fourth day I found, to my intense chagrin, that the delicate fabric had been broken and thrown down by some animal; also, that the birds had utterly vanished -- for I sought them in vain, both there and in every weedy and thistly spot in the neighbourhood. ❋ Unknown (1881)

At present there is no absolute disfavor shown to the clergy; but, as we have seen, many a pleasant island, which the monks of old reclaimed from the salty marshes, and planted with gardens and vineyards, now bears only the ruins of their convents, or else, converted into a fortress or government dépôt, is all thistly with bayonets. ❋ William Dean Howells (1878)

Perhaps it was the thistly food he ate which had an effect upon his temper and made him the awkward creature he had grown. ❋ George Manville Fenn (1870)

In this valley there were the most beautiful flowers, mallows, chrysanthemums, and thistly plants. ❋ Ida Pfeiffer (1827)

At 10. 30am on Tuesday the high court will start to consider the thistly question of the ❋ Unknown (2010)

First, I don’t think variety matters the ones in Onzo were long, tapered, very thistly, but medium-sized; far from babies but I’m sure freshness does: these had been picked less than an hour earlier. ❋ Unknown (2008)