acrimonious
adjective
ac·ri·mo·ni·ous
ˌa-krə-ˈmō-nē-əs 
acrimoniously
adverb
acrimoniousness
noun
Examples of acrimonious in a Sentence
Each man came out of their acrimonious 200-meter showdown on July 23 with an injured hamstring and a decidedly negative vibe.
—
Tim Layden, Sports Illustrated, 11 Sept. 2000
My May 19, 1967, memorandum to the president unleashed a storm of controversy. … It led to tense and acrimonious Senate hearings that pitted me against the Joint Chiefs of Staff and generated rumors they intended to resign en masse.
—Robert McNamara, In Retrospect, 1995
But considering the momentousness of the issue, the original Darwinian debate was far less acrimonious than might have been expected …
—Gertrude Himmelfarb, American Scholar, Autumn 1981
We could tell, however, when debate became more acrimonious than professional, but this was from watching lawyers other than our father.
—Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960
He went through an acrimonious divorce.
an acrimonious parting between the two former friends
Tim Layden, Sports Illustrated, 11 Sept. 2000
My May 19, 1967, memorandum to the president unleashed a storm of controversy. … It led to tense and acrimonious Senate hearings that pitted me against the Joint Chiefs of Staff and generated rumors they intended to resign en masse.
—Robert McNamara, In Retrospect, 1995
But considering the momentousness of the issue, the original Darwinian debate was far less acrimonious than might have been expected …
—Gertrude Himmelfarb, American Scholar, Autumn 1981
We could tell, however, when debate became more acrimonious than professional, but this was from watching lawyers other than our father.
—Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960
He went through an acrimonious divorce.
an acrimonious parting between the two former friends
Recent Examples on the Web
An acrimonious fracture between Anthropic and senior defense officials exposed a recurring fault line between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley over the looming risks of AI at war.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 1 May 2026
Christina Haack's divorce from her husband of two years, Josh Hall, was acrimonious from the get-go.
—Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026
Miron Muslic was appointed in the summer following his acrimonious departure from Plymouth Argyle, and the Bosnian has built an incredibly consistent, tough team that, unlike its predecessors, responds well to adversity.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
Phelps departed the top of the company after an acrimonious lawsuit and subsequent trial between the sanctioning body of NASCAR and two of its Cup Series teams — a 14-month process that revealed some pretty unflattering messages sent within NASCAR leadership.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 25 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for acrimonious
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 1 May 2026
Christina Haack's divorce from her husband of two years, Josh Hall, was acrimonious from the get-go.
—Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026
Miron Muslic was appointed in the summer following his acrimonious departure from Plymouth Argyle, and the Bosnian has built an incredibly consistent, tough team that, unlike its predecessors, responds well to adversity.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
Phelps departed the top of the company after an acrimonious lawsuit and subsequent trial between the sanctioning body of NASCAR and two of its Cup Series teams — a 14-month process that revealed some pretty unflattering messages sent within NASCAR leadership.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 25 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for acrimonious
Cite this Entry
“Acrimonious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acrimonious. Accessed 5 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
