Abrasive means rough enough to scrape, or harsh in manner. An abrasive cleaner, an abrasive manner, abrasive and blunt.
The physical sense names anything that wears a surface away by rubbing, and abrasives are graded by particle size. Of a person it means grating rather than cruel — an abrasive colleague is hard work and not necessarily unkind. Note abrade, from the Latin for scraping.
1adjectiveabrasiveRough enough to scrape.
“Don't clean the glass with an abrasive powder, or you'll scratch it.”
2adjectiveharshHarsh in manner.
“Her abrasive manner upset her colleagues, even when she was right.”
abrasive is a quality of roughness.
Medieval Latin
abrāsīvus
English, today
abrasive
Borrowed from Medieval Latin abrāsīvus.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Sharper Adjectives, Texture & Touch