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  1. acerbic love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Sour or bitter tasting; acid. See Synonyms at bitter.
  2. adj. Sharp or biting, as in character or expression: "At times, the playwright allows an acerbic tone to pierce through otherwise arid or flowery prose” ( Alvin Klein).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Of a harsh character.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Sour or bitter.
  2. adj. Sarcastic or cynical.
  3. adj. Sharp-tempered.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Sour or severe.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. sour or bitter in taste
  2. adj. harsh or corrosive in tone

Etymologies

  1. Circa 17th century, from Latin acerbus ("sour, bitter"). (Wiktionary)
  2. From Latin acerbus; see ak- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “Jane Lynch, known as acerbic cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on "Glee," will host the event.”

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines

  • “Frances, 69, best known as the acerbic host of The Weakest Link, is the only silent presence in the room.”

    AustralianIT.com.au | Top Stories

  • “Beatrice Arthur, best known as the acerbic Maude Findlay on Norman Lear's sitcom "Maude" and as the strong-willed Dorothy Zbornak on the long-running "The Golden Girls," died Saturday.”

    The Seattle Times

  • “Beatrice Arthur, best known as the acerbic Maude Findlay on Norman Lear's television sitcom”

    post-gazette.com - News

  • “Beatrice Arthur, best known as the acerbic Maude Findlay on Norman Lear's sitcom "Maude" and as the strong-willed Dorothy Zbornak on the long-running "The Golden Girls," died today.”

    The Bilerico Project

  • “Cowell, 50, best-known as the acerbic judge on America's top-rated TV singing contest”

    Reuters: Top News

  • “Cowell, 50, best-known as the acerbic judge on America's top-rated TV singing contest American Idol, told the British version of GQ magazine he had partnered with British retail billionaire Sir Philip Green on the new X-Factor.”

    Tonight

  • “Cowell, 50, best-known as the acerbic judge on America's top-rated TV singing contest "American Idol", told the British version of GQ magazine he had partnered with British retail billionaire Sir Philip Green on the new "X-Factor".”

    Yahoo! News: Latest news headlines News Headlines | Top Stories

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synonyms (3)

Words with the same meaning

  1. acrid
  1. acerb
  1. scathing

equivalents (2)

Other words for ‘acerbic’

  1. sour
  1. unpleasant

same context (25)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. off-color
  2. self-deprecating
  3. un-english
  4. caustic
  5. crossgrained
  1. off-topic
  2. opinionated
  3. trenchant
  4. thrust-out
  5. facetious
  1. overdressed
  2. wrongheaded
  3. splenetic
  4. alphabetic
  5. testy
  1. laconic
  2. crotchety
  3. self-assured
  4. candidd
  5. incisive
  1. scathing
  2. chewy
  3. ornery
  4. free-lance
  5. largemouth

reverse dictionary (2)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. acerb
  1. acerbic

tags (3)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. vcvccvc
  1. fun to say
  1. SATWOTD

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tagging (1)

Words tagged ‘acerbic’

  1. ascerbic

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Lists

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‘acerbic’ has been looked up 7197 times, loved by 17 people, added to 131 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 13.