acrid

Adjective

acrid (comparative acrider or more acrid, superlative acridest or most acrid)

1. Sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste.
   • At that instant, Eragon's back ruptured in an explosion of agony so intense, he experienced it with all five senses: as a deafening, crashing waterfall of sound; a metallic taste that coated his tongue; an acrid, eye-watering stench in his nostrils, redolent of vinegar; pulsing colors; and, above...2005, Christopher Paolini, “The Nature of Evil”, in Eldest, page 372
   • Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of...2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29

   Synonyms:

   pungent, acrimonious

   Antonyms:

   delectable, delicious, tasteful

2. Causing heat and irritation.
   • The bombardier beetle sprays acrid secretions to defend itself.

   Synonyms:

   corrosive

3. (figuratively) Caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating.
   • That man has an acrid temper.
   • In a chaotic, 90-minute back-and-forth, the two major party nominees expressed a level of acrid contempt for each other unheard-of in modern American politics.2020 September 29, Jonathan Martin, Alexander Burns, “With Cross Talk, Lies and Mockery, Trump Tramples Decorum in Debate With Biden”, in New York Times

   Synonyms:

   acerbic, acrimonious