Brackish

//ˈbɹækɪʃ// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Salty or slightly salty, as a mixture of fresh and sea water, such as that found in estuaries.

    "...by a low courſe and too long ſporting with the briny Ocean it taſts brackiſh and inſalubrious..."

  2. 2
    Distasteful; unpleasant; not appealing to the taste.

    "Therefore the bread he had to eat Seemed brackish, less like corn than tares;"

  3. 3
    Repulsive
Adjective
  1. 1
    slightly salty (especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water) wordnet
  2. 2
    distasteful and unpleasant; spoiled by mixture wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
saltybadbarfybrinybrinycloying

Example

More examples

"Estuaries are home to unique plant and animal communities that have adapted to brackish water."

Etymology

From Scottish brack (from Middle Dutch brac (“brackish”)) + -ish. Cognate with Dutch brak (“brackish”), German Low German brack, brakerg, brakig (“brackish”), German brackig (“brackish”), Danish brak (“brackish”), Swedish bräck (“brackish”), Norwegian brakk (“brackish”). Perhaps a distant doublet of brook.

Related phrases

brackish water

More for "brackish"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.