brackish
Americanadjective
-
somewhat salty or briny, as the water in an estuary or salt marsh, which is not as salty as the sea but saltier than a river.
These brackish swamps are some of the state’s most important ecosystems.
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The coffee was brackish and stale.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of brackish
First recorded in 1550–60; from Dutch brak “salty” + -ish 1 (in the sense “somewhat”)
Explanation
Something that is brackish is unpleasant and harsh, like the coffee you left on too long or the water in a muddy pond. The adjective brackish has roots in the Dutch word brac, meaning salty, and the word is used literally to describe water that is salty. You’ll often find brackish water in areas where salty seawater mixes with freshwater, such as "the brackish water of a Louisiana bayou." The word can be used more generally, however, to describe something that is distasteful and harsh, not just salty. When used in this way you’ll still most likely hear the term applied to liquids, such as a brackish tea that makes you wrinkle your nose when you taste it.
Vocabulary lists containing brackish
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Something's Fishy: A Fresh Catch of Aquatic Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Crocodilians, the largest predators in most tropical, subtropical freshwater and brackish environments, are a unique case when it comes to homing behavior," said behavioral ecologist and Adjunct Associate Professor Ru Somaweera, from Murdoch University.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
Texas Pacific also said it would sell brackish groundwater to Chevron to use at the plant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
"Bull sharks thrive in warm, brackish water, which most other sharks flee," she told the BBC.
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2026
It has brackish waters, a mix of fresh and salt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2025
He greeted us in turn, nosing us for a pat, then splashed into the shallows and slurped at the brackish water.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
