acrimonious

Syllables: acri·mo·ni·ousUK/ˌæk.ɹɪˈməʊ.nɪ.əs/US/ˌæk.ɹɪˈmoʊ.ni.əs/

acrimonious adjective: harsh and sharp, or bitter and not pleasant to the taste; acrid, pungent.

Adjective

acrimonious (comparative more acrimonious, superlative most acrimonious)

(archaic) Harsh and sharp, or bitter and not pleasant to the taste; acrid, pungent.
- The old man […] began to suffer in the body as well as the mind. He had formed the determination of setting out in person for Dumfriesshire, when, after having been dogged, peevish, and snappish to his clerks and domestics, to an unusual and almost intolerable degree, the acrimonious humours...1824 June, [Walter Scott], chapter II, in Redgauntlet, […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 50
- [I]t is sufficiently evident from the physiology of man, that boils and eruptions cannot be produced in perfectly healthy persons through the action of water, since water is a matter the most conceivably mild, and since boils produce a feeling always painful, and more or less acrimonious and...1850, J. H. Rausse, “B. Practical Proof”, in C. H. Meeker, transl., The Water-cure, Applied to Every Known Disease: A Complete Demonstration of the Advantages of the Hydropathic System of Curing...
(figuratively) Angry, acid, and sharp in delivering argumentative replies: bitter, mean-spirited, sharp in language or tone.
- Theſe points are diſcuſſed with the ability and learning which diſtinguiſh the Right Reverend Author's [Samuel Horsley's] publications, but not without acrimonious expreſſions of contempt and indignation againſt his opponent [Joseph Priestley].1790 May, “Art. 46. Tracts in Controversy with Dr. Priestley, upon the Historical Question of the Relief of the First Ages in Our Lord’s Divinity: Originally Published in the Years 1783, 1784, and...
- Lord Aberdeen is indignant that he is described as the tool of Russia, and to prove his independence, vows that he has, when Secretary of State, written very "acrimonious" despatches against that Power. Secretaries of State ought never to write "acrimonious" despatches. […] If the letters of Lord...1854 February 4, “Lord Aberdeen”, in The Coalition Guide: Illustrations of the Political History of 1853–4, from “The Press” Newspaper, London: “The Press” Office, 110, Strand; and Ward & Lock, 158...

acrimonious meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam

acrimonious in Tamil

அழற்சியான, எரிச்சலான, கடுமையான, காரசாரமான

acrimonious in Malayalam

കഠിനമായ, ഉഗ്രമായ, തിക്തമായ, പെരുമാറ്റത്തിലേയും മറ്റും തീക്ഷണത, കാഠിന്യം, വികാരപാരുഷ്യം

Examples of acrimonious in a sentence

A slight acrimonious impression is developed after a time upon the tongue from the partial solubility of the alkaloid in saliva.1864 March, Robert P. Thomas, “On the Therapeutical Properties of Sanguinarina, and Its Acetate and Sulphate”, in William Procter, Jr....
That would be a way more acrimonious custody battle than the one my parents had over me.2010, Jeph Jacques, “Number 1579: Visitation Rights”, in Questionable Content, archived from the original on 05 Jul 2017:
A forensic lip-reader has examined the CCTV and, according to her transcript, the conversation between you appears acrimonious.2018, 39:16 from the start, in Bodyguard, season 1, episode 4, spoken by DS Louise Rayburn (Nina Toussaint-White):

Synonyms of acrimonious

Antonyms

nonacrimonious

All synonyms and antonyms of acrimonious

Forms of acrimonious

comparative	more acrimonious
superlative	most acrimonious

Origin of acrimonious

From acrimony + -ous; compare French acrimonieux (“acrimonious”), from Latin ācrimōniōsus (“acrimonious”), from ācrimōnia (“pungency, sharpness; acrimony, austerity”) + -ōsus (suffix meaning “full of; prone to”, forming adjectives from nouns) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-went- or *-wont- + *-to-). Ācrimōnia is derived from Latin ācer (“sharp; bitter, sour”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós (“sharp”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) + *-rós (suffix forming adjectives from Caland system roots)) + Latin -mōnia (the feminine form of -mōnium (suffix forming collective nouns and nouns designating legal status or obligation), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-mō (suffix forming agent nouns from verbs)).

Words formed from acrimonious

Words that rhyme with acrimonious

3 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about acrimonious

What does acrimonious mean?: Acrimonious means harsh and sharp, or bitter and not pleasant to the taste; acrid, pungent.
What is acrimonious in Tamil?: Acrimonious in Tamil is அழற்சியான, எரிச்சலான, கடுமையான. See Acrimonious meaning in Tamil.
How do you use acrimonious in a sentence?: A slight acrimonious impression is developed after a time upon the tongue from the partial solubility of the alkaloid in saliva.
What part of speech is acrimonious?: Acrimonious is an adjective.
How do you pronounce acrimonious?: Acrimonious is pronounced /ˌæk.ɹɪˈməʊ.nɪ.əs/ (UK).

Words near acrimonious in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: acrimonious (page history and authors); acrimonious (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); acrimonious (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); acrimonious (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-acrimonious.ogg.

Cite this entry: “acrimonious.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acrimonious. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.