Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use acrid in a sentence

16 example sentences · adjective

Acrid means sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste. Example: “The bombardier beetle sprays acrid secretions to defend itself.”

Examples of acrid by meaning

adjectiveSharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste.

  • The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29

adjectiveCausing heat and irritation.

  • The bombardier beetle sprays acrid secretions to defend itself.

adjectiveCaustic; 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...

More sentences with acrid

  • It tasted smoky and acrid and it was like the first beer Flint had ever drunk.2020, Keith Brooke, Genetopia. From the entry beer stick
  • The fumes of alcohol mingle with the sweet acrid smoke of marihuana cigarettes.1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 94. From the entry marihuana
  • Roots, stalks, leaves contain an acrid narcotic, superbine, as well as colchicine and choline.1964, Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice. From the entry colchicine
  • But he had a certain acrid courage, and a certain will-to-power.1915, D. H. Lawrence, England, My England. From the entry will to power
  • The hotel coffee machine gurgles out an acrid belch.2016 March 11, Jennifer Coates, “I Am A Transwoman. I Am In The Closet. I Am Not Coming Out.”, in Medium. From the entry belch
  • Oxidative-rancidity odors are generally sharp and acrid and usually may be described as linseed-oil-like, tallowy, fishy, or perfumelike.1999, Ernest R Vieira, Elementary Food Science. From the entry perfumelike
  • It was after nine now, and the room, scented with the acrid smoke of Westfield's cheroot, was stifling hot.1934, George Orwell, chapter 2, in Burmese Days. From the entry cheroot
  • There were shouts of derision and mockery—a great overtone of acrid derision—the flag and its owner ignominiously disappeared.1918–1921 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “XX Settembre”, in Aaron’s Rod, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, published April…. From the entry ignominiously
  • The stench of stale beer, acrid cigar smoke, spilt whiskey, and misspat plugs of chewing tobacco pawed her, leaving the sticky grime of a thousand miners' hands.1990, Donald Porter, Jubilee Jim and the Wizard of Wall Street, page 120. From the entry misspit
  • In every kitchen arises the acrid tang of green- tomato pickle, chutney, chili; on every south-facing kitchen windowsill the most promising greenies line up to be coaxed ripe.1987, Maxine Kumin, In deep: country essays, page 98. From the entry greenie
  • In spite of the pipe he drew on so often that he seemed forever wrapped in a cloud of acrid blue smoke, Murphy stank like a mackerel.1977, Bartholomew Gill, McGarr and the politician's wife: a mystery novel, page 57. From the entry stink like a mackerel
  • Caution should be used in tasting uncooked dasheens, for there is always the possibility that an acrid taro of similar appearance has become mixed with the nonacrid variety.1953, M. W. Stone, F. B. Foley, D. H. Bixby, Effect of Soil Applications of Insecticides on the Growth and Yield of Vegetable Crops, page 3. From the entry nonacrid

Meaning of acrid

  1. adjective Sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste.
  2. adjective Causing heat and irritation.
  3. adjective Caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating.

Full definition of acrid

Questions about acrid in a sentence

How do you use acrid in a sentence?
Acrid is used as an adjective. For example: “The bombardier beetle sprays acrid secretions to defend itself.”
What is a short sentence with acrid?
“That man has an acrid temper.”
What does acrid mean?
Acrid means sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: acrid (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use acrid in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/acrid. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.