adj.

1. Sour or bitter tasting; acid. See synonyms at bitter.
2. Sharp or biting, as in character or expression: “At times, the playwright allows an acerbic tone to pierce through otherwise arid or flowery prose” (Alvin Klein).

[From Latin acerbus.]

acerbically a·cer'bi·cal·ly adv.

adjective

1. Having a noticeably sharp pungent taste or smell: acrid, bitter, harsh, sour. See taste/bad taste.
2. Having a taste characteristic of that produced by acids: acerb, acetous, acid, acidulous, dry, sour, tangy, tart. See taste/bad taste.
3. So sharp as to cause mental pain: acid, acidic, acrid, astringent, biting, caustic, corrosive, cutting, mordacious, mordant, pungent, scathing, sharp, slashing, stinging, trenchant, truculent, vitriolic. See attack/defend, respect/contempt/standing.

adj

Definition: sharp
Antonyms: kind, mild

adj

Definition: sour
Antonyms: sweet

---

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The adjective has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: sour or bitter in taste
  Synonyms: acerb, astringent, sharp

Meaning #2: harsh or corrosive in tone
  Synonyms: acerb, acid, acrid, bitter, blistering, caustic, sulfurous, sulphurous, venomous, virulent, vitriolic

---

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - sur, besk, bitter

Nederlands (Dutch)
bijtend, wrang

Français (French)
adj. - acerbe, caustique, âpre

Deutsch (German)
adj. - beißend, ätzend

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - όξινος, ξινός, στυφός, δριμύς

Italiano (Italian)
acerbo, caustico, mordace

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - ácido (Quím.), sarcástico (fig.)

Русский (Russian)
резкий

Español (Spanish)
adj. - mordaz, incisivo, punzante

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - sur, bitter

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
辛辣的, 尖酸的, 苦涩的

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 辛辣的, 尖酸的, 苦澀的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 신, 떫은, 신랄한

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 酸っぱい, 苦い, 渋い, とげとげしい, 辛辣な

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) حاد أللهجه أو ألنقد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮חריף, מריר, בוטה‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.