What does boracic mean?
Boracic is an adjective with two quite distinct lives. In its original chemical sense it describes things that contain or derive from boron — most familiarly boracic acid (now usually called boric acid) and boracic lint, a gauze dressing soaked in boric acid solution that was once a staple of British medicine cabinets. This technical usage survives in pharmaceutical and older domestic contexts, though 'boric' has largely displaced it in modern scientific prose. The word's second life is as British slang for being penniless. Through Cockney rhyming slang, 'boracic lint' came to stand for 'skint', so saying you are 'boracic' means you have no money at all. That slang sense is informal, chiefly British, and often carries a wry or jokey tone. The double identity makes boracic a small curiosity: one word linking nineteenth-century antiseptics and twenty-first-century empty wallets.
Of, containing, or derived from boron; relating to borax or boric acid.
"She rinsed the wound gently with a boracic solution."
Now largely superseded by 'boric' in technical chemistry writing.
(British slang, short for 'boracic lint', rhyming slang for 'skint') Having no money; penniless.
"Can't join you at the pub — I'm boracic this week."
Informal and chiefly British; often used humorously.
In Cockney rhyming slang, 'boracic lint' — a once-common medical dressing — came to mean completely skint, so a word for an antiseptic bandage became shorthand for having empty pockets.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of boracic
Boracic derives from borax, the name of the boron mineral known to European science by way of medieval Latin and Arabic, combined with the adjectival suffix -ic; it entered English around the early nineteenth century as chemists worked out the nature of boric acid. It is thus a sibling of borate, boron, and boric, all built on the same root. Its slang use arose later in Britain through rhyming slang on 'boracic lint'.
Related word forms
How boracic is actually used
The chemical sense is technical and appears mainly in scientific, pharmaceutical, and older household-medical contexts; 'boric' is now the more common adjective in modern chemistry writing. The slang sense is chiefly British and informal, understood through the full form 'boracic lint', and can sound dated or deliberately playful.
Easily confused with boracic
'Boring' means dull or tedious, whereas 'boracic' relates to boron chemistry or, in slang, being penniless.