acrimonious

  • 1acrimonious — UK US /ˌækrɪˈməʊniəs/ adjective FORMAL ► involving a lot of anger and arguments: an acrimonious battle/debate/dispute »Two top executives at the company resigned after an acrimonious battle for control. an acrimonious departure/split/takeover… …

    Financial and business terms

  • 2Acrimonious — Ac ri*mo ni*ous, a. [Cf. LL. acrimonious, F. acrimonieux.] 1. Acrid; corrosive; as, acrimonious gall. [Archaic] Harvey. [1913 Webster] 2. Caustic; bitter tempered sarcastic; as, acrimonious dispute, language, temper. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3acrimonious — I adjective acerb, acerbic, acrid, astringent, biting, bitter, blistering, captious, caustic, censorious, choleric, corrosive, cross tempered, cruel, cutting, cynical, embittered, envenomed, gruff, harsh, hostile, huffy, ill natured, inimical,… …

    Law dictionary

  • 4acrimonious — (adj.) 1610s, acrid, from Fr. acrimonieux, from M.L. acrimoniosus, from L. acrimonia (see ACRIMONY (Cf. acrimony)). Of dispositions, debates, etc., from 1775. Related: Acrimoniously; acrimoniousness …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 5acrimonious — *angry, irate, indignant, wrathful, wroth, mad Analogous words: testy, splenetic, choleric, *irascible, cranky, cross: rancorous, hostile, antagonistic (see corresponding nouns at ENMITY): quarrelsome, contentious, *belligerent Antonyms: irenic,… …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 6acrimonious — [adj] nasty in behavior, speech acerbic, acid, angry, astringent, belligerent, biting, bitter, caustic, censorious, churlish, crabby, cranky, cross, cutting, indignant, irascible, irate, ireful, mad, mordant, peevish, petulant, rancorous,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 7acrimonious — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ angry and bitter. DERIVATIVES acrimoniously adverb …

    English terms dictionary

  • 8acrimonious — [ak΄ri mō′nē əs] adj. [ML acrimoniosus: see ACRIMONY] bitter and caustic in temper, manner, or speech acrimoniously adv. acrimoniousness n …

    English World dictionary

  • 9acrimonious — acrimoniously, adv. acrimoniousness, n. /ak reuh moh nee euhs/, adj. caustic, stinging, or bitter in nature, speech, behavior, etc.: an acrimonious answer; an acrimonious dispute. [1605 15; < ML acrimoniosus. See ACRIMONY, OUS] * * * …

    Universalium

  • 10acrimonious — ac|ri|mo|ni|ous [ˌækrıˈməuniəs US ˈmou ] adj an acrimonious meeting or discussion is one in which people argue a lot and get very angry ▪ The meeting ended in an acrimonious dispute. &GT;acrimoniously adv &GT;acrimoniousness n [U] …

    Dictionary of contemporary English