acrid

comparative acrider · comparative more acrid · superlative acridest · superlative most acrid

1. Sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste.

   2 more examples

   At that instant, Eragon's back ruptured in an explosion of agony so intense, he experienced it with all five senses: as a deafening, crashing waterfall of sound; a metallic taste that coated his tongue; an acrid, eye-watering stench in his nostrils, redolent of vinegar; pulsing colors; and, above all, the feeling that Durza had just laid open his back.

   2005, Christopher Paolini, “The Nature of Evil”, in Eldest, page 372

   Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.

   2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29

   Synonyms: pungent, acrimonious · Antonyms: delectable, delicious, tasteful

2. Causing heat and irritation.

   The bombardier beetle sprays acrid secretions to defend itself.

   Synonyms: corrosive

3. figurativelyCaustic; bitter; bitterly irritating.

   That man has an acrid temper.

   1 more example

   In a chaotic, 90-minute back-and-forth, the two major party nominees expressed a level of acrid contempt for each other unheard-of in modern American politics.

   2020 September 29, Jonathan Martin, Alexander Burns, “With Cross Talk, Lies and Mockery, Trump Tramples Decorum in Debate With Biden”, in New York Times

   Synonyms: acerbic, acrimonious