abrasive

[ uh-brey-siv, -ziv ]
See synonyms for abrasive on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. any material or substance used for grinding, polishing, etc., as emery, pumice, or sandpaper.

adjective
  1. tending to abrade; causing abrasion; abrading.

  2. tending to annoy or cause ill will; overly aggressive:an abrasive personality.

Origin of abrasive

1
1870–75; <Latin abrās(us) (see abrasion) + -ive

Other words for abrasive

Other words from abrasive

  • a·bra·sive·ly, adverb
  • a·bra·sive·ness, noun
  • un·a·bra·sive, adjective
  • un·a·bra·sive·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use abrasive in a sentence

  • Therefore Beecher had to depend wholly oh abrasives applied to the specimens with pieces of rubber.

  • What is more, the artificial abrasives do not injure the lungs of the operatives like sandstone.

    Creative Chemistry | Edwin E. Slosson
  • What's more, he couldn't be sure whether he held a king's ransom in his hand or a few dollars' worth of industrial abrasives.

    The Flaming Mountain | Harold Leland Goodwin
  • For the large number of abrasives produced from silica, outside of flint pebbles, domestic sources of production are ample.

  • Chert or flint constitutes grinding pebbles and tube-mill linings, and is also ground up for abrasives.

British Dictionary definitions for abrasive

abrasive

/ (əˈbreɪsɪv) /


noun
  1. a substance or material such as sandpaper, pumice, or emery, used for cleaning, grinding, smoothing, or polishing

adjective
  1. causing abrasion; grating; rough

  2. irritating in manner or personality; causing tension or annoyance

Derived forms of abrasive

  • abrasiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012