Meanings
comparative more picric · superlative most picric
- Designating a type of bitter yellow acid.
“Something in the picric family might do nicely,” Fatou went on, deploying maps and diagrams about the tiny room.
2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 5931 more example
Baldy had not moved since lying down, and his regular and somewhat sterterous breathing […] told Monica that he was alive and resting comfortably. “A week of rest and good care and some picric acid on your burns will put you right, Baldy,” Monica told him.
1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter IX, in The Understanding Heart
Origin
- Ancient Greekπικρός“bitter”
- Frenchpicrique
- Englishpicric
From French picrique, from Ancient Greek πικρός (pikrós, “bitter”).
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
picric. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/picric
“picric.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/picric. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “picric,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/picric.
Source: picric on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.