1
as in unappetizing
disagreeable or disgusting to the sense of taste
the office coffee is often some brackish brew that's been sitting around for a couple of hours
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of brackish
In middle age, though, the only seaway Melville encountered was the brackish Hudson and his journeys consisted of tabulating the wool unloaded from Manchester, rum from Havana, and tea from Calcutta.
—
Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026
The Thames, where saltwater meets fresh, has become a rare brackish habitat -- alive again, yet still fragile.
—Rajeev Tyagi, ABC News, 27 Dec. 2025
The area includes a mix of tidal salt marsh, brackish wetlands, saltwater, freshwater and wildlife habitats.
—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Dec. 2025
That flood irrigation raised the water table so high that brackish groundwater brought harmful salt concentrations right to the roots of crops.
—Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 15 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brackish
Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026
The Thames, where saltwater meets fresh, has become a rare brackish habitat -- alive again, yet still fragile.
—Rajeev Tyagi, ABC News, 27 Dec. 2025
The area includes a mix of tidal salt marsh, brackish wetlands, saltwater, freshwater and wildlife habitats.
—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Dec. 2025
That flood irrigation raised the water table so high that brackish groundwater brought harmful salt concentrations right to the roots of crops.
—Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 15 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brackish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brackish
Adjective
-
The administration has asked for an astonishing $200 billion to fund a war that the president also sporadically claims is over, giving legislators an unappetizing choice between funding a quagmire or else walking away and leaving a mess behind.—
David A. Graham,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Reaching for your leftover guacamole and discovering it’s turned an unappetizing shade of brown after a day in the fridge.—
Olivia Tarantino,
Martha Stewart,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Visitors are not allowed to drink anything underground because the floors — the walls, too — are salt.—
Lisa Gutierrez,
Kansas City Star,
4 Mar. 2026
-
It is also made with cabbage, but the seasonings are usually just salt.—
Riley Wofford,
Martha Stewart,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants a piece of the action, although an Israeli route may be unpalatable to many countries in the region that blame Israel for helping spark the war.—
Mohammed Sergie,
semafor.com,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Elleray also raised the most unpalatable of the unintended consequences.—
Philip Buckingham,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Oktyabr Dospanov, curator of the Nukus Museum of Art’s archaeology department, explained that rice cultivation in Karakalpakstan took off in the 1960s, when Soviet agronomists introduced it as a salt-tolerant crop for the area’s saline soil.—
Michael Snyder,
Saveur,
11 Mar. 2026
-
How to refill a saline lake Growing the lake is a much bigger and more expensive challenge than remedying the salinity problem.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
People aged between 18 and 29, who are Gen Z, were the most likely to find extreme wealth distasteful.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Because literature is a distillation of our loves and fears, of supposedly beauty and truth, its relationship with Mammon is at least distasteful and at most tragic, but the story of writing’s association itself is certainly an engaging story.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The scene involves an unsavory routine on how to recognize a shoplifter.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
-
The 25-year-old Indianapolis native plays Willa, the daughter of former revolutionaries DiCaprio and Taylor, who goes on the lam when unsavory characters from her parents’ past attempt to track her down.—
Heather Bushman,
IndyStar,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
This is going to be a horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad day.—
Nathan Rott,
NPR,
27 Mar. 2026
-
In another case, a 10-year-old girl contracted horrible lesions on 10 percent of her body — mostly on her legs — after contact with giant hogweed.—
Natalie Krebs,
Outdoor Life,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
In the especially nasty autumn of 1954, women in June Cleaver dresses and gas masks protested outside the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
-
The show excels at casting a spell through odd details, nasty red herrings, disturbing clues.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Brackish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brackish. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
