Covered with or full of briars; thorny, prickly, and difficult to pass through; also used figuratively to mean difficult or complicated.
From 'briar' (a prickly plant from Old English 'brēr') combined with the adjective suffix '-y,' creating 'briery,' which evolved into the spelling 'briary.' The suffix '-y' means 'full of' or 'characterized by.'
The word 'briary' appears remarkably often in literature to describe emotional or intellectual difficulty—'a briary path' doesn't just mean thorny vegetation, it's a metaphor for complex moral choices or painful journeys that modern writers borrowed directly from medieval storytellers.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.