Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The quality of being acrid or pungent.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun bitterness or acerbity
  • noun An acrid taste or smell.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun extreme bitterness
  • noun the quality of being sharply disagreeable in language or tone

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

acrid +‎ -ness

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word acridness.

Examples

  • The gale that had buffeted Emal earlier in the week had died down to a light but bitter wind out of the northwest, with but a hint of the iron-acridness of the Aerlal Plateau.

    Darkness Modesitt, L. E. 2003

  • For even when coming into slight contact with the outer, vapory shreds of the jet, which will often happen, your skin will feverishly smart, from the acridness of the thing so touching it.

    Moby Dick; or the Whale 2002

  • VII A cool mist shrouds Cyad, a mist that holds the tang of salt air, the fragrance of the late-blooming aramyds, and the faintest odor of the bitterness that reminds Lorn of chaos, an acridness far stronger within the Quarter of the Magi'i, but omnipresent throughout the great white city.

    The Magi'i Of Cyador Modesitt, L. E. 2000

  • The faint odor of damp wool clung to her arms, and he wondered if the acridness of iron-gall ink clung to him.

    The White Order Modesitt, L. E. 1998

  • Along with acridness of ashes and cinders came the odor of charred meat.

    The Chaos Balance Modesitt, L. E. 1997

  • The water carried away some of the acridness and dustiness that seeped endlessly into his nostrils and dried his throat.

    Fall of Angels Modesitt, L. E. 1996

  • She lay down again on the bed and sang a little wandering tune made up of the words I have sung all the songs all the songs I have sung all the songs there are until, touched by her own lullaby, she grew drowsy, and in the hollow of near-sleep she tasted the acridness of gold, left the chill of alabaster and smelled the dark, sweet stench of loam.

    Toni Morrison - Prose 1993

  • Between the continuing smoke from the kitchen, the pervasiveness of soured beer and wine, and the acridness of green wood in the hearth, my eyes burned, but I kept listening, waving away the thin serving-girl with the scar down her cheek, nursing my second redberry, and watching -

    The Magic of Recluce Modesitt, L. E. 1991

  • The smoke's usual acridness was smothered by the residue of the liquor in her throat.

    The Metrognome and other Stories Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 1990

  • The smoke's usual acridness was smothered by the residue of the liquor in her throat.

    The Metrognome and Other Stories Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 1990

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.