Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, derived from, or containing sulfur, especially with valence 4.
  • adjective Characteristic of or emanating from burning sulfur.
  • adjective Fiery; hellish.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Containing sulfur.
  • adjective chemistry Of, or relating to sulfur, especially in its lower oxidation state.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective harsh or corrosive in tone
  • adjective characterized by oppressive heat and humidity
  • adjective of or related to or containing sulfur or derived from sulfur

Etymologies

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Examples

  • I sit here, all the doors and windows closed, the stereo up, the swamper rattling futilely overhead as it sucks in sulfurous smoke, wishing to drown out the noise that so delights others.

    mjh's blog — 2008 — July 2008

  • The old man could be painted as a creature of the past, a purveyor of old prejudices with a "sulfurous" reputation, says Marine.

    What a Tea Party Looks Like in Europe 2010

  • Iran and Venezuela, which traditionally push for higher prices, have a slimmer margin of profit than some others because their oil is heavier and more sulfurous, meaning it sells for less than benchmark crude.

    Market News 2008

  • All week long, scientists have been swapping stories about our solar system, talking about the winds and sulfurous clouds on Venus, the icy volcanoes and dunes on Titan, Saturn's largest moon; and debating how the planets and their moons and rings formed - still a bit of a mystery.

    A Fizzy Ocean May Lie Beneath Enceladus' Icy Crust 2010

  • His original title was "Pale Blue and Green," a rather gentle description for the bleak industrial wasteland that serves not so much as the story's backdrop as its foreground: a depopulated landscape of rusted red, sulfurous yellow, gun-metal gray and sterile white.

    Start September With Superior Cinema Steve Dollar 2011

  • Canada's oil sands are essentially thick mixtures of sand and thick, sulfurous oil.

    Pressure Rises on Shale Gas Chip Cummins 2011

  • Complicating the issue is the volcanic eruption of Toba, in Sumatra, around 74,000 years ago, which injected so much sulfurous dust into the high atmosphere that it caused prolonged droughts that might have come close to wiping out many human populations.

    Did Early Humans Ride the Waves to Australia? Matt Ridley 2012

  • And at the top, the hoses would cough a sulfurous pall into the sky.

    Re-Engineering the Earth 2009

  • Glass was everywhere, and a weird, sulfurous smell made me gag.

    Haven Kristi Cook 2011

  • Glass was everywhere, and a weird, sulfurous smell made me gag.

    Haven Kristi Cook 2011

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