lachrymatory

1 9.9

Causes your eyes to fill with tears

adjective
/ˈlækrɪməˌtɔri/

Specialized

: lacrimógeno

Onions release a lachrymatory substance that makes your eyes water when you cut them.

Examples

Police used lachrymatory agents to disperse the protesters in the square.
Some spices can have a lachrymatory effect.
Exposure to the lachrymatory gas caused everyone to start crying uncontrollably.
The lachrymatory film made everyone cry.
Onions release a lachrymatory substance that makes your eyes water when you cut them.
Exposure to the lachrymatory gas caused everyone to start crying uncontrollably.
Police used lachrymatory agents to disperse the protesters in the square.

Synonyms

lachrymose

vslachrymatory

Literature

1 9.9

Showing sadness or making people want to cry

is neutral and focuses on tear production rather than emotion

lacrimal

vslachrymatory

Specialized

1 9.1

Relating to tears and the body parts that make or carry them

focuses more on causing or producing tears than anatomy

lachrymal

vslachrymatory

Archaic

1 9.9

Relating to tears or the small glands and tubes in the eye that make and carry them

emphasizes causing tears rather than naming those body parts

lacrimatory

vslachrymatory

Specialized

9.9

That causes the eyes to fill with tears

is the same meaning but spelled with y instead of i

How Tear-Inducing

caustic

Specialized

1 8.3

lachrymatory

Specialized

1 9.9

irritating

6 3.1

harmless

214 1.0

Surface Forms

lachrymatory positive

Morphology

lachrymatory = lachrymal (semi-transparent) = lachrym + atory

The suffix '-atory' indicates a relation, but the root 'lachrym' is not commonly recognized.

Etymology

The word lachrymatory comes from the Latin root lacrima or lachryma, which means 'tear'. So a lachrymatory thing is one that makes you cry or produces tears, like tear gas or the juice from an onion.