Word.ws English Dictionary

acerbic

Syllables: a·cer·bicUK/əˈsɜː(ɹ)bɪk//əˈsərbɪk/

acerbic adjective: tasting sour or bitter.

Adjective

acerbic (comparative more acerbic, superlative most acerbic)

  1. Tasting sour or bitter.
    • Those consumers who object to the acerbic taste of garlic can purchase de-odorized garlic or allicin extract.1998 August 5, Dr. Peter Gott, “Can inhaler cause addiction?”, in Catoosa County News, retrieved 19 Sep 2009
    Synonyms:
    acerb, acrid, acrimonious
  2. (figuratively) Sharp, harsh, biting.
    • Supercompetent, superconfident and supercritical, Schmidt is a gifted orator whose acerbic wit earned him the nickname "Schmidt the Lip."1986 September 22, “West Germany: Last Taunts From the Lip”, in TIME, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2021, retrieved 25 Apr 2014
    • [H]e is one of the most acerbic people in his field, quick to take offense and not shy about telling people with whom he disagrees how much he thinks they have failed in thought and action.2005 May 5, Jay Mathews, “Don't Fire This Professor”, in Washington Post, page T6

acerbic meaning in Malayalam and Vietnamese

acerbic in Malayalam

ചവർപ്പുള്ള, തീവ്രമായ, രൂക്ഷമായ, പരുഷവും മൂർച്ചയുള്ളതുമായ, പരുഷമായ, രൂക്ഷത

acerbic in Vietnamese

sour or bitter
chát

Synonyms of acerbic

Forms of acerbic

comparativemore acerbic
superlativemost acerbic

Origin of acerbic

Attested since the 17th century, from Latin acerbus (“sour, bitter”).

Words formed from acerbic

Words that rhyme with acerbic

Questions about acerbic

What does acerbic mean?
Acerbic means tasting sour or bitter.
What is acerbic in Malayalam?
Acerbic in Malayalam is ചവർപ്പുള്ള, തീവ്രമായ, രൂക്ഷമായ. See Acerbic meaning in Malayalam.
What part of speech is acerbic?
Acerbic is an adjective.
How do you pronounce acerbic?
Acerbic is pronounced /əˈsɜː(ɹ)bɪk/ (UK).

Words near acerbic in the dictionary

  1. acerbating
  2. acerbation
  3. acerbations
  4. acerber
  5. acerbest
  6. acerbic
  7. acerbically
  8. acerbicness
  9. acerbities
  10. acerbitous
  11. acerbitude

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: acerbic (page history and authors); acerbic (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-acerbic.oga.

Cite this entry: “acerbic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acerbic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.