acrimonious

adjective

ac·​ri·​mo·​ni·​ous ˌa-krə-ˈmō-nē-əs How to pronounce acrimonious (audio)
: angry and bitter : caustic, biting, or rancorous especially in feeling, language, or manner
an acrimonious dispute
acrimoniously adverb
acrimoniousness noun

Examples of acrimonious in a Sentence

Each man came out of their acrimonious 200-meter showdown on July 23 with an injured hamstring and a decidedly negative vibe. Tim Layden, Sports Illustrated, 11 Sept. 2000
My May 19, 1967, memorandum to the president unleashed a storm of controversy.  … It led to tense and acrimonious Senate hearings that pitted me against the Joint Chiefs of Staff and generated rumors they intended to resign en masse. Robert McNamara, In Retrospect, 1995
But considering the momentousness of the issue, the original Darwinian debate was far less acrimonious than might have been expected … Gertrude Himmelfarb, American Scholar, Autumn 1981
We could tell, however, when debate became more acrimonious than professional, but this was from watching lawyers other than our father. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960
He went through an acrimonious divorce. an acrimonious parting between the two former friends
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Harrison’s hiring, built on connections and made in the wake of an acrimonious separation from Nelson, Cuban’s only previous GM, was supposed to change all that. C. Clark, D. Aldridge, S. Amick, F. Katz, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2025 But after seasons of misery with the New York Giants and an acrimonious end to his time in New Jersey, this season has been a dream come true for Barkley with the Kansas City Chiefs standing between him and NFL immortality. Ben Morse, CNN, 4 Feb. 2025 The startup is competing with AI firms such as OpenAI, which Musk co-founded before an acrimonious split with that company. Bloomberg News, Boston Herald, 29 Mar. 2025 Smith directly references his acrimonious relationship with the Oscars after slapping then-host Chris Rock in 2022. Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for acrimonious

Word History

Etymology

acrimony + -ous

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of acrimonious was in 1651

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Acrimonious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acrimonious. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on acrimonious

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!