Dictionary

vinegary en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Old French vinaigrebor. Middle English vynegre English vinegar English -y English vinegary From vinegar + -y.

Meanings

1. Sour; like vinegar.
   • When Martha reopened the bottle of wine from the previous week's party, a vinegary whiff indicated that drinking it was out of the question.
   • Cherry Jones as Nan Pierce (2023), 42:42 from the start, in Succession, season 4, episode 1: “I like my wine thin and vinegary.”
2. (figuratively) Acerbic, bitter, irritable.
   • A vinegary face has Mrs Miff, and a mortified bonnet, and eke a thirsty soul for sixpences and shillings. 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:
   • Edward's maiden aunt was a vinegary old soul with a sharp tongue and quick temper; she would not be receiving a wedding invitation.
   • Then she remembered Jalil's disgusting behaviour of the previous evening and turned to give him vinegary words. 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 562:
3. Of a liquid, having turned partially or fully to vinegar.

Forms

Deriveds

vinegariness

Synonyms

sour (sour, like vinegar) · nasty · bitter · acerbic (figurative: acerbic, bitter) · tart (sour, like vinegar) · acrid (sour, like vinegar) · acerbic (sour, like vinegar) · vitriolic · vinegarish (sour, like vinegar) · sour

Translations (8)

gv feeyn-gheayragh (having turned partially or fully to vinegar) · fi etikoitunut (having turned partially or fully to vinegar) · ja 酸い (sour like vinegar) · fi kitkerä (figurative: acerbic, bitter) · fi etikkainen (sour like vinegar) · fi hapan (figurative: acerbic, bitter) · gv feeyn-gheayragh (sour like vinegar) · nl azijnachtig (sour like vinegar)