Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state or property of being tart.
  • noun Sharpness of language or manner; acerbity; severity.
  • noun Synonyms Asperity, Harshness, etc. See acrimony.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality or state of being tart.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The characteristic of being tart; sharpness of taste; sourness; bitterness.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the taste experience when vinegar or lemon juice is taken into the mouth
  • noun a rough and bitter manner
  • noun a sharp sour taste

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

tart +‎ -ness

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word tartness.

Examples

  • I find that a lot of their tartness is lost when you use bottled juice, so make sure to pick up some fresh fruit to juice to make this loaf.

    Cherry Lime Bread | Baking Bites 2010

  • To be honest, I prefer plain, straight-up cheesecake ... maybe with a touch of lemon or vanilla, and some tartness from the dairy used.

    Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake Pan and a Giveaway! | Baking Bites 2009

  • I love acidity in white wines, but the malic acid, just-bite-into-an-underripe-green apple tartness is too much here, throwing the wine off balance.

    The New York Cork Report: 2009

  • I think the tartness is the perfect counterpoint to the sweet topping… but I tend to like tart thingsto begin with.

    breakfast apricot crisp | smitten kitchen 2008

  • It was incredibly clever to add a subtle glaze to the top, the tartness was the perfect marriage to the citrus sweetness of the dense cake.

    lemon yogurt anything cake | smitten kitchen 2008

  • Grapes mature, yet there is always a very pungent tartness, which is felt remaining in the throat when one eats them in large quantities, arising from defect of cultivation.

    The Founder of New France : A chronicle of Champlain Charles William Colby 1911

  • Andouille sausage adds some fat to the dish to counter the wine's tartness, which is also smoothed with a bit of cream.

    SFGate: Top News Stories Lynne Char Bennett 2010

  • Richness - oiliness and fattiness - is interesting because it's not technically one of the four tastes (sweet, salty, sour and bitter), but it has a balancing relationship with tartness, which is why we put pickles and ketchup on fatty burgers, eat pork with sauerkraut, and why it's always so surprising when someone points out that the main flavors in mayonnaise are oil and lemon.

    Politics Francis Lam 2010

  • Marston, in his preface, wishes to be outlawed, and of whom he says that he fully merits the 'tartness' and freedom of his satire.

    Shakspere and Montaigne Jacob Feis

  • It is richer and fuller-bodied than the German wines, without the tartness which is strongly developed in nearly all the Rhenish varieties.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 79, May, 1864 Various

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.