acrolein

A1C3R1O1L1E1I1N1
UK/ˈækɹəliːn/UK/əˈkɹəʊliɪn/US/ˈækɹəˌlin/US/əˈkɹoʊliɪn/

noun

A pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde, CH₂=CH-CH=O, made by the destructive distillation of glycerol.

Similar
acrylaldehydepropenal
OriginGerman Acrolein ← Latin acer →
UncommonScrabble 10
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Meanings

nounacrolein (countable and uncountable, plural acroleins)

plural acroleins

  1. countableuncountablechemistryA pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde, CH₂=CH-CH=O, made by the destructive distillation of glycerol.

    Synonyms: acrylaldehyde, propenal

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde, CH₂=CH-CH=O, made by the destructive distillation of glycerol.

Similar
acrylaldehydepropenal

More synonyms by meaning

nouna pungent colorless unsaturated liquid aldehyde made from propene

Similar
propenal
Broader
aldehyde
Also see
acraldehydepropenal

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinacer“sharp”
  2. GermanAcrolein
  3. Englishacrolein

Borrowed from German Acrolein, from Latin acer (“sharp”) + oleō (“smell”, verb) + -in.

More words from German, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 丙烯醛
  • 丙烯醛 (bǐngxīquán)a pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde
Finnish akroleiini
  • akroleiinia pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde
Japanese アクロレイン
  • アクロレイン (akurorein)a pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde
Persian اکرولین
  • اکرولینa pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde
Polish akroleina
  • akroleinaa pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde
Portuguese acroleína
  • acroleínaa pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde
Spanish acroleína
  • acroleínaa pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

carolineCorneliaColerainloniceraCoralineErcolani
Cite this entry
APA

acrolein. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acrolein

MLA

“acrolein.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acrolein. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acrolein,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acrolein.

Source: acrolein on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.