Gunpowdery

/ˈɡʌnpaʊdəri/ adjective

Definition

Resembling, containing, or having the texture or properties of gunpowder; like gunpowder in appearance or composition.

Etymology

From 'gunpowder' plus '-y' suffix meaning resembling or characterized by. This is the more common adjectival form than 'gunpowderous,' used to describe things that look, feel, or smell like gunpowder.

Kelly Says

The term 'gunpowdery' appears memorably in 18th and 19th-century texts describing the acrid, stinging smell of battlefields after artillery fire—a sensory detail that historians use to convey the violent reality beneath the romantic language of 'military glory.'

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