tart

¹ American  

[tahrt] / tɑrt /

adjective

tarter, comparative tartest superlative

1. sharp to the taste; sour or acid.

   Tart apples are best for pie.

   Synonyms:

   piquant, acrid, astringent

   Antonyms:

   mellow, bland, sugary, sweet

2. sharp in character, spirit, or expression; cutting; biting.

   a tart remark.

   Synonyms:

   acrimonious, acerbic, caustic, barbed, sarcastic

   Antonyms:

   benign, gracious, gentle, kind, sweet

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tart ² American  

[tahrt] / tɑrt /

noun

tarts plural

1. a small pie filled with cooked fruit or other sweetened preparation, usually having no top crust.

2. a covered pie containing fruit or the like.

3. Slang. a prostitute or sexually promiscuous woman.

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verb phrase

1. tart up to adorn, dress, or decorate, especially in a flamboyant manner.

   The old restaurant was tarted up to look like a Viennese café.

tart ¹ British  

/ tɑːt /

adjective

1. (of a flavour, food, etc) sour, acid, or astringent

2. cutting, sharp, or caustic

   a tart remark

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tart ² British  

/ tɑːt /

noun

1. a pastry case often having no top crust, with a sweet or savoury filling

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tart ³ British  

/ tɑːt /

noun

1. informal a promiscuous woman, esp a prostitute: often a term of abuse See also tart up

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tartness
  noun
• tartish
  adjective
• tarty
  adjective
• tartishly
  adverb
• tartly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tarts
  plural

Adjectives

• tarter
  comparative
• tartest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of tart¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English teart “sharp, rough”; akin to Dutch tarten “to defy,” Middle High German traz “defiance”

Origin of tart²

First recorded in 1350–1400; 1905–10 tart ² for def. 3; Middle English tarte, from Middle French; compare Medieval Latin tarta

Explanation

A tart is small pie filled with fruit or custard, with no top crust, like the cherry tarts you bought at the bakery. As an adjective, tart describes a sour taste, like lemon, or harsh words, like your friend's tart reply to a question that makes her mad. In the 19th century, tart was British slang for "pretty woman." Some believe it is a shortening of "sweetheart." But by the end of that century, tart described a prostitute, something many language scholars trace back to the tart that you get at the bakery.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tart tarts tarter tartest

These acids give kombucha its familiar tart flavor.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026

It’s got a little bit of a tart taste.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026

It’s got a big-boy suspension—with front coilover struts and multi-link rear suspension—tastefully tart steering response and above-par roadholding, thanks to a center of gravity like a sea buoy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026

In 2006, he served a custard tart to the late Queen Elizabeth II as part of her 80th birthday celebrations.

From BBC ● May 5, 2026

Gooseberries are so tart that more sugar than fruit goes into the pie.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

The first sheet becomes the main course: four crisp, savory egg tarts with pancetta, pecorino and enough black pepper to evoke cacio e pepe.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

Six new Pasadena bakeries to visit for cinnamon rolls, cookies, croissants, Labubu tarts, bagels, gluten-free desserts and vegan pastries.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

The idea initially came from a colleague, who praised the homemade tarts he would bring into work.

From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025

Asapahu, meanwhile, offers miniature makrut lime meringue tarts as an homage to Thai cuisine, which uses the tree's leaves in its seasonings.

From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2025

She had the biggest smile, and held up a plate with three fruit tarts on it.

From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks

English and organic red wines, which he says can taste tarter, are among his favourites to drink chilled.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

Similar to the Italian lemons—the tarter Sorrento and the sweeter Sfumato—used to make limoncello, my two lemon varieties impart different levels of sweetness and tartness.

From Salon ● Nov. 12, 2022

The sauce will tilt sweeter or tarter depending on the citrus you choose, but that’s half the fun of it because there is a wide berth of goodness there.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2021

And there’s a rabbit hole of detail to descend into: freckles, skin moles and scars, teeth tarter, nose hair and shaving nicks on the necks and faces of figures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2020

I am really tarter and more stinging than pepper, so that even when I am presiding over them at the chapter, the smallest thing fires me with anger.

From Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln A Short Story of One of the Makers of Mediaeval England by Marson, Charles L. (Charles Latimer)

The Granny Smiths were the tartest, but also the softest and most liable to break down.

From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2021

The most important contributor is black screenwriter Bill Gunn, adapting a 1966 novel by Kristin Hunter, also black, but adding most of the tartest lines and characterisations himself.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 4, 2012

“Man of the Hour,” one of the tartest songs from the new album, came next, and Ms. Jones’s ample indignation trumped the clunky lyrics.

From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2010

Pressed to name some, the President adopted his tartest professorial tones.

From Time Magazine Archive

This was spoken by Lady Janet in her tartest of voices, and with a steady stare at Upton, who stroked his moustaches in very palpable confusion.

From Roland Cashel Volume II (of II) by Lever, Charles James