brackish

adjective brack·ish \ ˈbra-kish \

|Updated on: 21 Jun 2018

Examples: brackish in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of brackish

1 : somewhat salty

brackish water

2 a : not appealing to the taste

brackish tea

b : repulsive

a brackish personality

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brackishness

noun

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Examples of brackish in a Sentence

the office coffee is often some brackish brew that's been sitting around for a couple of hours
the river becomes brackish as we approach the tidemark

Recent Examples of brackish from the Web

The town, which is set on three ridges separated by marshland and brackish creeks, occupies roughly a square mile.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "As goes Maine, so goes the nation?," 12 June 2018
The large reptiles can be found in fresh and brackish bodies of water — including lakes, rivers, canals and golf course ponds — and there is roughly 6.7 million acres of suitable habitat statewide.

— Washington Post, "Authorities: Evidence shows gator bit, probably killed woman," 8 June 2018
To restore the wetland, the Corps used sediment pumped from Pontchartrain to create brackish marsh in what was open water in the refuge.

— tristan baurick, NOLA.com, "Bayou Sauvage refuge opens restored marsh," 31 Jan. 2018
The tigers of the brackish Sundarbans mangrove forest in Bangladesh are an exception, killing more than 20 people each year.

— elisa neckar, Discover Magazine, "20 Things You Didn't Know About ... Big Cats," 8 May 2018
The groundwater is brackish and recommended for livestock only, but the two storage tanks closest to the watering hole no longer function.

— CBS News, "Nearly 200 horses found dead amid Southwest drought in Arizona," 6 May 2018
The water would come from the Lower Floridan Aquifer, which can be brackish and kind of stinky.

— lauren ritchie, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Villages of West Lake 'designed to capture' water, but developer wants millions of gallons more," 29 Apr. 2018
Unable to complete her dissertation on Sappho and dazed after a messy breakup, Lucy agrees to dog-sit for her sister who lives near the beach, hoping the brackish Pacific breeze might enliven her spirits.

— rachel syme, New York Times, "In ‘The Pisces,’ a Woman and a Merman Fall in Love. Aquatic Erotica Ensues.," 26 Apr. 2018
The clean, fresh water in the Sacramento River also is of much higher quality than the often-brackish waters in the south Delta.

— ryan sabalow and dale kasler, sacbee, "Massive Delta tunnels project took a giant step forward – here’s what you need to know | The Sacramento Bee," 11 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'brackish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

When the word brackish first appeared in English in the 1500s, it simply meant "salty," as did its Dutch ancestor "brak." Then, as now, brackish water could simply be a mixture of saltwater and freshwater. Since that time, however, "brackish" has developed the additional meanings of "unpalatable" or "distasteful" - presumably because of the undrinkable quality of saltwater. "The brackish water that we drink / Creeps with a loathsome slime, / And the bitter bread they weigh in scales / Is full of chalk and lime." As this use from Oscar Wilde's "Ballad of Reading Gaol" illustrates, brackish water can also include things other than salt that make it unpleasant to drink.