acerbity
Americannoun
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sourness, with roughness or astringency of taste.
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harshness or severity, as of temper or expression.
noun
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vitriolic or embittered speech, temper, etc
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sourness or bitterness of taste
Etymology
Origin of acerbity
From the Latin word acerbitās, dating back to 1565–75. See acerbic, -ity
Explanation
A lemon in your mouth, a mean-spirited neighbor, a roomful of sarcastic people: these are examples of acerbity, a type of harsh bitterness that can leave you stunned. The Latin word acerbus means “sour-tasting,” and that is acerbity in a nutshell: sour. Many foods have acerbity, like limes and pickles. Acerbity can also be a personality trait, like a professor who snaps at you if you talk in class. In Charles Dickens’s novel A Christmas Carol, the character Ebenezer Scrooge is a great example of acerbity. He is a bitter, stingy businessman who won’t help anyone but himself. Don’t worry; he learns his lesson in the end.
Vocabulary lists containing acerbity
Oliver Twist
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The Ruins of Gorlan
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The House of the Seven Gables
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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 Academy Awards for the movies of 1988 were awash in bluntness, cruelty and acerbity.
From New York Times • Oct. 2, 2020
As her New York Times obituary put it, “She specialized in sourness, or, more politely, acerbity, which she used to her comic advantage in roles as housekeepers, spinsters, wicked stepmothers, nuns and back-talking secretaries.”
From Slate • Aug. 16, 2019
It sounds treacly, but Linklater handles the sentiment with a light touch of acerbity and sets it off against another dramatic element, the troubled undercurrents that arise inevitably from the student-athlete’s circumstances.
From The New Yorker • Apr. 5, 2016
That's not inappropriate, and once Christopher Salazar arrives as hero John Worthing, the contrast between his benign gravitas and Hunter's febrile acerbity is drolly amusing, a Victorian-era Mutt and Jeff.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 2, 2014
Therefore he might have described his modest surroundings with less acerbity than the irritable De Goncourts.
From Unicorns by Huneker, James
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.
