prickly

[beachboy]

Painful pricky sensations.
Is prickly the same as itchy?

[vil]

prickly = barbed, brambly, jaggy, sharp, thorny/ edgy, grumpy, irritable, short-tempered, touchy/ difficult, involved, tricky, troublesome

itchy = fidgety, impatient, restless, roving, unsettled

Dictionary of synonyms 1993

V

[5jj]

Painful pricky sensations.
Is prickly the same as itchy?

They are often very different in meaning (see a dictionary). However, when a person experiences a prickly feeling/sensation, the actual feeling is not very different from when one feels itchy. A prickly sensation is often felt when someone feels uncomfortable, suspicious, frightened, etc. If someone feels itchy, it is more likely to be caused by something physical - an insect bite, an allergy, the contact of rough material on the skin, etc.