abrasive
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Rude or harsh in a way that upsets people.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhbraysivSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əbˈɹeɪsɪv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Producing abrasion; rough enough to wear away the outer surface.
Being rough and coarse in manner or disposition; overly aggressive and causing irritation.
noun
A hard inorganic substance or material consisting in powder or granule form such as sandpaper, pumice, or emery, used for cleaning, smoothing, or polishing.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Producing abrasion; rough enough to wear away the outer surface.
Something 'abrasive' actively wears away a surface, making it feel rough or harsh to the touch. It implies a degree of aggressiveness or a 'grinding' quality, unlike something merely coarse.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
DIY or home improvement
“Use an abrasive cleaner to remove the stubborn rust stains.”
Product descriptions
“This sandpaper features an extremely abrasive surface for tough jobs.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A substance that abrades or wears down.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: hard inorganic substance or material consisting in powder
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Related Learning
Guides that use this word in context.
Collections with this word
Themed sets you can browse for free.
Use it yourself
Knowing “abrasive” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.