Dictionary

acrid en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈæk.ɹɪd/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Latin ācris, from ācer (“sharp”); probably assimilated in form to acid. Compare eager.

Meanings

1. Sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste.
   • Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles. 2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29:
   • At that instant, Eragon's back ruptured in an explosion of agony so intense, he experienced it with all five senses: as a deafening, crashing waterfall of sound; a metallic taste that coated his tongue; an acrid, eye-watering stench in his nostrils, redolent of vinegar; pulsing colors; and, above all, the feeling that Durza had just laid open his back. 2005, Christopher Paolini, “The Nature of Evil”, in Eldest, page 372:
2. Causing heat and irritation.
   • The bombardier beetle sprays acrid secretions to defend itself.
3. (figuratively) Caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating.
   • That man has an acrid temper.
   • In a chaotic, 90-minute back-and-forth, the two major party nominees expressed a level of acrid contempt for each other unheard-of in modern American politics. 2020 September 29, Jonathan Martin, Alexander Burns, “With Cross Talk, Lies and Mockery, Trump Tramples Decorum in Debate With Biden”, in New York Times:

Forms

Antonyms

delicious · tasteful · delectable

Deriveds

nonacrid · subacrid · acridly · acridity · antacrid · acridness

Synonyms

acrimonious · corrosive · acerbic · pungent · acrimonious

Translations (65)

fr âcre (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · cs štiplavý (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · vi chát (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · mi tangeao (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · gl agre (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · es acre (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · es mordaz (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · pl uszczypliwy (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · fa تیز (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · el αψύς (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · cs dráždivý (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · pl zgryźliwy (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · ru о́стрый (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · ru язви́тельный (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · ota كسكین (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · gl agre (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · ota حریف (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · ro caustic (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · ru е́дкий (causing heat and irritation; corrosive) · fi kitkerä (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · pt ácrido (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · pl ostry (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · tr acı (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · pl korozyjny (causing heat and irritation; corrosive) · sh rȅzak (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · eo pika (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · sv skarp (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · eo maldolĉa (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · ota ایتی (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · bg лугав (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · es acre (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · sh ȍštar (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · fa گس (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · el αψύς (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · sh о̏штар (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · sv frän (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · de stechend (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · io akra (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · sh ре̏зак (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · grc δριμύς (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · pl żrący (causing heat and irritation; corrosive) · pl drażniący (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · pl cierpki (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · fi kitkerä (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · ro acru (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · bcl masakrot (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · pl gryzący (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · bg остър (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · bg язвителен (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · fa تند (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · eo kaŭstika (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · fr âcre (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · ru ре́зкий (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · io akra (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · bg рязък (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · pt ácrido (causing heat and irritation; corrosive) · el δριμύς (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · tl makahat (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · be во́стры (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · cs jízlivý (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · tr aşındırıcı (causing heat and irritation; corrosive) · mi tangeo (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · pl cierpki (caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating) · pt acre (sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste; pungent) · eo kaŭstika (causing heat and irritation; corrosive)