Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

abrasive

/əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.22 in modern English

Syllables: a-bra-sive
IPA: /əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/

13

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Producing abrasion; rough enough to wear away the outer surface.

adj

Being rough and coarse in manner or disposition; overly aggressive and causing irritation.

noun

A hard inorganic substance or material consisting in powder or granule form such as sandpaper, pumice, or emery, used for cleaning, smoothing, or polishing.

noun

Rock fragments, sand grains, mineral particles, used by water, wind, and ice to abrade a land surface.

Example Sentences

"An abrasive person can grate on one's sensibilities."
"Despite her proper upbringing, we found her manners to be terribly abrasive."
"The women of the movement, it struck me, were more humorless and more single-minded in their total dedication to the ideology than were the men. In fact, Chiang Ching was unpleasantly abrasive and aggressive. At one point that evening she turned to me and in a challenging voice asked, "Why did you not come to China before now?" Since the ballet was in progress at the time, I did not respond."

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin abrāsīvus.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/

Inflected Forms

more abrasive (comparative) most abrasive (superlative) abrasives (plural)

Derived Forms

abrasively abrasiveness airbrasive dermabrasive microabrasive nonabrasive unabrasive

Phrases

abrasive blasting abrasive disc abrasive paper non-abrasive

Frequently Paired Words

abrasion

Synonyms

cutting harsh scratchy abradant abrasive material

Rhymes With

invasive persuasive pervasive

Questions

How do you pronounce abrasive?: The recorded pronunciation is /əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/.
What does abrasive mean?: Producing abrasion; rough enough to wear away the outer surface.
Where does abrasive come from?: Borrowed from Medieval Latin abrāsīvus.

How to pronounce abrasive

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Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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