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acerb
[ uh-surb ]
/ əˈsɜrb /
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This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
adjective
QUIZ
CUDDLE UP! A COZY QUIZ ON FALL WORDS HAS ARRIVED
If autumn is your ideal season, spice up your repertoire of "fall" vocabulary with this quiz on some warm and vivid descriptive words for the season.
Question 1 of 10
Which of the following words means “to make a crackling sound; crackle”?
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Origin of acerb
1650–60; <Latin acerbus;see acerbic
Words nearby acerb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use acerb in a sentence
The fruit remains acerb and hard; the tree declines to be "ameliorated" for the good of mankind.
Prairie Gold|VariousShe denied that stenographers could ever form a union, but she could not answer his acerb, “Why not?”
The Job|Sinclair LewisThereupon followed a soft discussion that was as near being acerb as nails are near velvet paws.
Vittoria, Complete|George Meredith