Erinaceous

Word of the Day for Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Erinaceous \er-uh-NEY-shuhs\, adjective:

Of the hedgehog kind or family.

At times even more ruthless, their erinaceous fingernails used as claws, as dangerous as any blade.
-- Richard W. Hoffman, The Bamboo American

[Thoreau was] the most erinaceous of American writers. Ideas stuck out from his writings like porcupine quills, guaranteed to prick the hide of even the most thick-skinned, reader.
-- Walter Harding, The Days of Henry Thoreau: A Biography

Erinaceous originates from the Latin ērināceus for hedgehog, followed by the suffix -ous referring to the possession of a quality.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com