as in sarcastic
marked by the use of wit that is intended to cause hurt feelings
a professor with a rather acerb sense of humor
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acerb
Adjective
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Ally and Jay are both sarcastic, too — their best lines are muttered under their breaths — and their repartee becomes more interesting than the bloody theatrics.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2025 -
When Filip Hronek took a soft point shot that Darcy Kuemper stopped shortly after, the crowd responded with a sarcastic Bronx cheer.—
Harman Dayal,
The Athletic,
16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The tone, like the title, is satiric and pitch black.—
Andrew Silow-Carroll,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Jan. 2025
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Gad originated the role of Elder Cunningham alongside Andrew Rannells' Elder Price in a satiric look at two young missionaries' misguided attempts to spread the gospel in a small Ugandan village.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Even perennials have varying soil needs: some prefer more acid or more alkaline soil, or prefer a wet site or a dry one.—
Beth Botts,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Feb. 2025
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Fluoride also replaces minerals lost from teeth due to acid breakdown, according to the CDC. ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
29 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Plant the carrot seed in deep, loose soil free of rocks with a slightly acidic pH. Instead of putting carrot plants where other members of the carrot family grew or are growing, consider placing it near a sage plant (a good companion for preventing carrot rust flies).—
Lauren Thomann,
Better Homes & Gardens,
8 Feb. 2025
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Bittersweet chocolate provides a pronounced bitter and even slightly acidic flavor.—
Gretchen McKay,
Twin Cities,
5 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Away in a northeasterly direction towards Lake Pontchartrain sits a charmless, gated perimeter, secured by a fence topped with barbed wire.—
Adam Crafton,
The Athletic,
8 Feb. 2025
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This is Auschwitz-Birkenau, a place where the Nazis treated people like animals caged in by electrified barbed wire, where prisoners died slowly by a combination of slave labor, human experimentation, starvation and disease.—
Jesse Kirsch,
NBC News,
2 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The old-school formality of the costumes—women in dresses, men with ties—is counterbalanced by the flamboyance of their colors: flaming red, screeching green, lavish blue, acerbic yellow, judgmental white, which inflect the action’s moods and set its tones.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
11 Feb. 2025
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In order to stay, the mild-mannered young man takes a job assisting Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton), an eccentric and acerbic artist who promises to sponsor him for a green card.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Dec. 2024
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“Acerb.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acerb. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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