acrid

[ak-rid]

adjective

1. sharp or biting to the taste or smell; bitterly pungent; irritating to the eyes, nose, etc..

   acrid smoke from burning rubber.

2. extremely or sharply stinging or bitter; exceedingly caustic.

   acrid remarks.

acrid

/ əˈkrɪdɪtɪ, ˈækrɪd /

adjective

1. unpleasantly pungent or sharp to the smell or taste

2. sharp or caustic, esp in speech or nature

Other Word Forms

• acridity noun
• acridness noun
• acridly adverb
• subacrid adjective
• subacridly adverb
• subacridness noun
• subacridity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of acrid¹

1705–15; < Latin ācr- (stem of ācer ) sharp, sour + -id ⁴, perhaps through influence of acid

Word History and Origins

Origin of acrid¹

C18: from Latin ācer sharp, sour; probably formed on the model of _acid

Example Sentences

The last was in July 2023, when a colleague complained of an acrid or vomit-like smell and was struggling to breathe as their aircraft taxied down the runway.

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And towering plumes of smoke and acrid odors drifted eastward with the onshore winds.

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The producer said she could feel the acrid smoke catch the back of her throat and start to sting her eyes.

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A pall of acrid smoke hung over Kyiv on Friday morning following a night of intensive Russian strikes that hit almost every district of the capital, according to Ukrainian authorities.

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You can still taste its acrid smell; all the TV equipment - cameras, lights, tripods - are tangles of twisted metal.

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Related Words

• pungent 
• stinging www.thesaurus.com