- a variation of mordent.
mordant
Americanadjective
noun
-
a substance used in dyeing to fix the coloring matter, especially a metallic compound, as an oxide or hydroxide, that combines with the organic dye and forms an insoluble colored compound or lake in the fiber.
-
an adhesive substance for binding gold or silver leaf to a surface.
-
an acid or other corrosive substance used in etching to eat out the lines, areas, etc.
-
Music. mordent.
verb (used with object)
-
mordants,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mordanted,
past participle, past
-
mordanting
present participle
adjective
-
sarcastic or caustic
-
having the properties of a mordant
-
pungent
noun
-
a substance used before the application of a dye, possessing the ability to fix colours in textiles, leather, etc See also lake 2
-
an acid or other corrosive fluid used to etch lines on a printing plate
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mordantsimple
-
mordantssimple
-
have mordantedperfect
-
has mordantedperfect
-
am mordantingprogressive
-
are mordantingprogressive
-
is mordantingprogressive
-
have been mordantingperfect progressive
-
has been mordantingperfect progressive
Past
-
mordantedsimple
-
had mordantedperfect
-
was mordantingprogressive
-
were mordantingprogressive
-
had been mordantingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mordant
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Middle French, present participle of mordre “to bite,” ultimately derived from Latin mordēre; see -ant
Explanation
If you like Edgar Allan Poe and The Addams Family, you have a taste for mordant entertainment — that is, anything particularly grim or dark in nature. The original meaning of mordant (which comes from the Latin word mordere meaning "to bite or sting,") was that of a physical substance that literally bit into something, such as the one used to set dye into fabrics, or etch lines into a copper plate. Now, mordant generally refers to a dark or biting artistic style, sense of humor, or psychological outlook.
Vocabulary lists containing mordant
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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.
See Examples For:
By contrast, Irwin quotes a mordant reflection on colonialism from V.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
That mordant humor, however enjoyable, tiptoes around the unanswerable question of how, or even whether, we can tell the difference between cosplay and the real thing.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
What defines him instead are various quips, mordant jokes and accounts of bizarre behavior, many no doubt apocryphal, recorded by his admirers and detractors in the centuries after his death.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
Martinez scatters ceramic roses across the painting, a mordant honorific to past glory and current hopes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
It failed to reach Sagane until after the war and was returned years later to Alvarez, who put his signature to it and delivered it again to Sagane as a mordant keepsake.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Options already exist for fixing dyes without lead, including natural mordants derived from plants rich in tannins, such as oak bark, pomegranate peel and rosemary, as well as alum, which is considered environmentally safe.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 2, 2026
“And the mordants too. You must learn those. Sometimes sumac. Tree galls are good. Some lichens. “Best is — here, come; let me show you.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
It dyes somewhat like Old Fustic, but gives with aluminium and tin mordants brighter yellows, for which colours it is chiefly used.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 8 "Dubner" to "Dyeing" by Various
His fragmentary information, though often inaccurate, is most valuable to those who are seeking once more to find lasting colours, and despair of discovering mordants that will fix the aniline tints.
From Needlework As Art by Marianne Margaret Compton Cust, Viscountess Alford
Its great advantage is that it leaves the wool soft to the touch, whereas the other mordants are apt to harden the wool.
From Vegetable Dyes Being a Book of Recipes and Other Information Useful to the Dyer by Ethel M. Mairet
For example:—Cochineal, if mordanted with alum, will give a crimson colour; with iron, purple; with tin, scarlet; and with chrome or copper, purple.
From Vegetable Dyes Being a Book of Recipes and Other Information Useful to the Dyer by Ethel M. Mairet
Wool mordanted with 4 per cent of ferrous sulphate and 10 per cent tartar and dyed in a separate bath with weld with 8 per cent chalk, takes a good olive yellow.
From Vegetable Dyes Being a Book of Recipes and Other Information Useful to the Dyer by Ethel M. Mairet
Chrome mordanted wool should be dyed without delay, as it is rather sensitive to light, especially the yellow sort, which gradually changes into the green sort of chromed wool.
From The Dyeing of Woollen Fabrics by Franklin Beech
During this operation the wool at first attracts chromic acid, which is gradually reduced to chromium chromate, so that the mordanted fibre has finally a pale olive-yellow tint.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 8 "Dubner" to "Dyeing" by Various
The dyeing operation consists in working the mordanted material in a solution of the necessary colouring matter, the dyebath being gradually raised to the boiling point.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 8 "Dubner" to "Dyeing" by Various
The mordanting operation aims at fixing upon the fibre the necessary metallic oxide or insoluble basic salt, which is called the mordant, although the term is also applied to the original metallic salt employed.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 8 "Dubner" to "Dyeing" by Various
The direct dyes are so called because they dye cotton without the aid of any mordanting process.
From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 1: Deposition to Eberswalde by Various
The wool is first dyed in the blue vat; then washed and dried; then after mordanting, dyed in the yellow bath.
From Vegetable Dyes Being a Book of Recipes and Other Information Useful to the Dyer by Ethel M. Mairet
In place of giving a second oiling after the dyeing, it is, perhaps, better to give it after the mordanting and before dyeing.
From The Dyeing of Cotton Fabrics A Practical Handbook for the Dyer and Student by Franklin Beech
The method of mordanting wool depends upon its property of decomposing metallic salts, and fixing upon itself an insoluble metallic compound, when boiled in their solutions.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 8 "Dubner" to "Dyeing" by Various
Definitions 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.
