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Someone who has an abrasive manner is unkind and rude, wearing away at you in an irritating fashion.
If you take an acerbic tone with someone, you are criticizing them in a clever but critical and mean way.
An acrimonious meeting or discussion is bitter, resentful, and filled with angry contention.
An affable person is pleasant, friendly, and easy to talk to.
When you are astringent towards someone, you speak to or write about them in a critical and hurtful manner.
If you describe someone as benign, they are kind, gentle, and harmless.
Something brackish is distasteful and unpleasant usually because something else is mixed in with it; brackish water, for instance, is a mixture of fresh and salt water and cannot be drunk.
A caustic remark is unkind, critical, cruel, and mocking.
If someone is granted clemency, they are punished less severely than they could have been—they have been shown mercy.
A congenial person, place, or environment is pleasant, friendly, and enjoyable.
A man who is debonair is sophisticated, charming, friendly, and confident.
To decry something is to speak against it and find fault with it.
If you describe something, especially food and drink, as delectable, you mean that it is very pleasant, tasty, or attractive.
A dulcet sound is soft and pleasant in a gentle way.
Something innocuous is not likely to offend or harm anyone.
A mellifluous voice or piece of music is gentle and pleasant to listen to.
If you describe something as palatable, such as an idea or suggestion, you believe that people will accept it; palatable food or drink is agreeable to the taste.
A poignant experience affects your feelings greatly in a painful or deeply emotional way, often causing sadness or pity.
Rancor is a feeling of bitter ill will or intense dislike towards another person.
A salubrious place or area is pleasant, clean, healthy, and comfortable to live in.
Trenchant comments or criticisms are expressed forcefully, directly, and clearly, even though they may be hurtful to the receiver.
If you describe something as unsavory, you mean that it is unpleasant or morally unacceptable.
To come out of something unscathed is to come out of it uninjured.
A virulent disease is very dangerous and spreads very quickly.
Vitriolic words are bitter, unkind, and mean-spirited.
The adjective wholesome can refer to something that is good for the health of your body and also for your moral health.
Adj.
acrid
AK-rid
Context
Bitter, acrid smoke billowed out of the warehouse as the fire gained strength. The firefighters used their masks to keep the acrid, burning fumes out of their lungs, but breathing was still difficult near the entrance engulfed by black smoke. The few employees still remaining in the building coughed and choked on the biting, acrid smoke as they ran toward the exits. Many of the rescued employees used harsh, bitter, and acrid language to describe their anger at the building’s lack of safety.
Quiz:Try again!
What is an acrid substance?
One that is overly sweet in both taste and smell.
One that is bitter and sharp in its taste or smell.
Get Rid of It!Ack! These acrid smells are too bitter--get rid of them!
Examples
While others can’t get past the acrid smell of manure, Perry reports to work at 4:30 a.m. and delights in the dawn and the stirring of life around him.
—
USA Today
Nearly 100,000 people live in this town on Brazil’s south coast, under acrid layers of red, ocher and gray that trap the heat and hover in the sky.
—
The New York Times
If a starter turns orange or pink and develops an unpleasantly acrid odor, undesirable bacteria have invaded it and the mixture must be discarded.
—
Epicurious
A few miles away, workers were skimming oil off the surface of the tundra where a leak discovered Sunday spilled 15 barrels over an area about 2,600 square feet. An acrid smell filled the air, and the black gooey ground contrasted sharply with the surrounding tundra, which during this time of year is brown and marshy, with white flowers known as tundra cotton grass.
—
The Washington Post
Acrid smells or comments are “sharp, keen, or fierce” to the nose or to the mind.
Word Theater
Pee Wee's Big Adventure The acrid smoke of the fire finally does Pee Wee in.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
