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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective acrid contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of acrid are caustic, mordant, and scathing. While all these words mean "stingingly incisive," acrid implies bitterness and often malevolence.

acrid invective

When would caustic be a good substitute for acrid?

While in some cases nearly identical to acrid, caustic suggests a biting wit.

caustic comments

When can mordant be used instead of acrid?

The words mordant and acrid are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, mordant suggests a wit that is used with deadly effectiveness.

mordant reviews of the play

In what contexts can scathing take the place of acrid?

In some situations, the words scathing and acrid are roughly equivalent. However, scathing implies indignant attacks delivered with fierce severity.

a scathing satire

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of acrid Namely, a harsh, acrid taste, and any kind of cloying sweetness. Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 13 May 2025 Bemused tourists attempt to shuffle through the acrid red and blue flare smoke. Tim Spiers, New York Times, 18 May 2025 That day, the air in midtown Manhattan was choked with acrid wildfire smoke from Canada, and the sky was a macabre shade of orange. Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025 Then, in June 2023, came the wildfire smoke from eastern Canada that filled our street with an acrid smell and our lungs with dangerous particulate matter. Mike Tidwell, Baltimore Sun, 23 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for acrid
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acrid
Adjective
  • The spa menu boasts a long list of bodywork treatments options, including the fire & ice massage, which soothes sore muscles with a combination of hot stones and cooling recovery balm, facials and body scrubs using ingredients from the forest, and a fireside massage package for two.
    Elizabeth Brownfield, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
  • Pairing cannabis with outdoor adventures not only amplifies your connection to the natural world but can also help with sore muscles, fatigue, and improving sleep in new environments.
    Matt Rozo, Mercury News, 18 June 2025
Adjective
  • Pashinyan was the focus of protests last year by tens of thousands of demonstrators after Armenia agreed to hand over control of several border villages to Azerbaijan and to normalize relations between the neighbors and bitter rivals.
    Avet Demourian, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025
  • But the two mainstays of the game are far from bitter rivals.
    Luca Evans, Denver Post, 27 June 2025
Adjective
  • The poem is part love quest, part account of Italy’s battles; in places profoundly serious, in places satiric.
    The New Yorker, New Yorker, 11 June 2025
  • Neither damning nor satiric, W. is oddly wistful, almost regretful — rare sentiments in a Stone film.
    Will Leitch, Vulture, 17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Without Flagg, asking angry fans for more money may have sent Welts back into another round of retirement.
    Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 June 2025
  • Republican lawmakers were also angry when the Southern Association warned that a 2021 presidential search at Florida State University may violate accrediting standards.
    Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel, 26 June 2025
Adjective
  • His father, observing his children’s unconventional career choices, eventually developed his own sarcastic advice for parents.
    Omaid Homayun, Forbes.com, 24 June 2025
  • Idiotic rich boy Bertie Wooster gets himself into some kind of sticky situation with another rich idiot, and his quietly sarcastic, above-it-all, genius butler Jeeves inevitably gets him out of it.
    Brian Boone, Vulture, 18 June 2025
Adjective
  • Too often, leaders are stuck between moral maximalism and cynical cost-cutting.
    HEC Paris Insights, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025
  • Mamdani proposes to pay for these splendid gifts to the city’s voters by raising taxes even further on the city’s top income earners, in the cynical belief that those who make up his tax base are stuck there, cannot flee, and are thus cows to be helplessly milked.
    The Editors, National Review, 25 June 2025
Adjective
  • The finish is bright, pleasantly acidic, and long lasting.
    Mike DeSimone, Robb Report, 12 June 2025
  • The finished dish is bright, acidic, and perfectly seasoned.
    Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 June 2025
Adjective
  • Starting with fawning platitudes, the relationship between the world's richest man and the world's most powerful man has come to an acrimonious end.
    Dan Perry, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 June 2025
  • This could seek to avoid a repeat of the acrimonious conclusion to the previous summit in Canada back in 2018 when Trump, during his first term in office, retracted the U.S.′ support for the joint statement.
    Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 16 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Acrid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acrid. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.

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