Kátrányos

Kátrányos is a Hungarian adjective meaning tar-covered or tar-stained. The term is used to describe surfaces, objects, or people that have come into contact with kátrány, a tar-derived substance. In a figurative sense, kátrányos can also describe something dark, dirty, or grim in appearance or atmosphere.

Etymology and formation: The word is formed from kátrány (tar) with the descriptive suffix -os, a productive pattern in Hungarian for creating adjectives that denote a characteristic or condition. The form is regularly attached to nouns to express being coated with or characterized by the root material.

Usage: Kátrányos is commonly applied to tangible conditions, such as kátrányos ruha, kátrányos kéz, or kátrányos felszerelés after exposure to tar. It can describe tar-coated surfaces like equipment, ropes, clothing, or the exterior of a vessel after tar processing. For example, a worker’s hands can become kátrányos during tar-related tasks, and a ship’s rigging might be described as kátrányos after maintenance with tar. The term also appears in descriptions of dirty or grimy environments, as in streets, walls, or industrial settings that bear tar stains.

In figurative use, kátrányos may convey a sense of heaviness, dirtiness, or a bleak atmosphere, though such use is primarily literary or descriptive rather than technical. The term is predominantly found in contexts related to tar, coating processes, or material condition.

See also: tar, coating, surface treatment.