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Vexatious; troublesome; tormenting; as, a plaguy horse. [Colloq.] Also used adverbially; as, "He is so plaguy proud." Shak.

Originally, a brawling, turbulent, vexatious person of either sex, but now restricted in use to females; a brawler; a scold. A man . . . grudgeth that shrews [i. e., bad men] have prosperity, or else that good men have adversity. Chaucer. A man had got a shrew to his wife, and there could be no quiet in the house for h…

shrew; disposing to curse or scold; hence, vicious; malicious; evil; wicked; mischievous; vexatious; rough; unfair; shrewish. [Obs.] Chaucer. [Egypt] hath many shrewd havens, because of the great rocks that ben strong and dangerous to pass by. Sir J. Mandeville. Every of this happy number That have endured shrewd days…

rieved, or vexed; very susceptible of irritation. Malice and hatred are very fretting and vexatious, and apt to make our minds sore and uneasy. Tillotson.

Like a thorn or thorns; hence, figuratively, troublesome; vexatious; harassing; perplexing. "The thorny point of bare distress." Shak. The steep and thorny way to heaven. Shak. Thorny rest-harrow (Bot.), rest-harrow. -- Thorny trefoil, a prickly plant of the genus Fagonia (F. Cretica, etc.).

h, as a dog in pursuing game; hence, to retard, encumber, or restrain; to clog; to hinder vexatiously. [R.] Beau. & Fl.

Giving trouble or anxiety; vexatious; burdensome; wearisome. This troublesome world. Book of Common Prayer. These troublesome disguises that we wear. Milton. My mother will never be troublesome to me. Pope.

Inconvenient; troublesome; vexatious; unlucky; unfortunate; as, an untoward wind or accident. -- Un*to"ward*ly, adv. -- Un*to"ward*ness, n.