Prickly or sharp — describing speech or manner that is biting or hostile; can also refer to something physically spiky or thorny.
彼の言い方はとげとげしく、会議の雰囲気が緊張した。
His manner of speaking was prickly, and the meeting's atmosphere became tense.
そのバラは茎がとげとげしいから、気をつけて扱ってください。
That rose has a thorny stem, so handle it carefully.
とげとげしい言葉のやり取りは関係を悪化させがちだ。
Exchanges of biting words tend to worsen relationships.