acerbic
adjective
sour or astringent in taste.
acerbically
-
a word derived from
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.
The plaintive observation, ascribed to the early Victorian British Prime Minister Viscount Melbourne about the acerbically self-confident historian Thomas Babington Macaulay, remains the motto of the thoughtfully skeptical man through the ages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
Meanwhile, a woman in her 20s from Rasht, in northern Iran, observed acerbically: "Wow, very heartwarming that he didn't even appear on state TV to issue the message."
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
TLR was started by Barron’s alumnus John Liscio, who acerbically observed that economists can’t forecast the future because they couldn’t get the present right, so he started tracking it for them.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
Professor Lowi acerbically coined what he called the “Law of Succession,” which holds that each new president enhances the reputation of his predecessors.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2017
"What else is new?" asked the President acerbically.
From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Winn Schwartau
