acerb
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of acerb
1650–60; < Latin acerbus; see acerbic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Today the gay sensibility -- acerb, lusty, nostalgic, poignant -- dominates high drama and low comedy.
From Time Magazine Archive
Out of one recent seminar, for example, came General Lyman Lemnitzer's acerb remarks on General Maxwell Taylor's proposal to merge the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
From Time Magazine Archive
Lawrence has Pryor's bantam pugnacity, but he lacks the underdog charm, the skewed genius for mimicry and acerb social humor.
From Time Magazine Archive
The dialogue is breezy, the tone acerb and the climax as predictably uplifting as Rocky's.
From Time Magazine Archive
Miss Black was older than her brother, and had already acquired that acerb precision which lies in wait with such frequent success for middle-aged spinsters and bachelors.
From Notwithstanding by Mary Cholmondeley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
