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.
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
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
Along with another acerb little volume, Gore Vidal's The American Presidency, it can be taken as an ideal chaser to the recent binge of Monicaholism.
From Time Magazine Archive
Jane Russell has replaced Elaine Stritch in a key role, and while Russell doesn't have the acerb singing voice of Stritch, neither did Stritch have the opulent good looks of Russell.
From Time Magazine Archive
She denied that stenographers could ever form a union, but she could not answer his acerb, “Why not?”
From The Job An American Novel by Lewis, Sinclair
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.
