acrid
adjective
Simple meaning
Sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
akridSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈækɹɪd
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
Sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste.
Causing heat and irritation.
figurative
Caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste.
Used this way, acrid is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Sour, bitter, and harsh to the taste, such as unripe fruit.
Having a strong taste that stings the tongue.
Sharp, harsh, biting.
Harsh or corrosive.
Sharp, bitter, cutting, biting, and sarcastic in a scathing way.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.