acerbic
adjective
acer·bic
ə-ˈsər-bik 
a-
: sharply or bitingly critical, sarcastic, or ironic in temper, mood, or tone
acerbic commentary
an acerbic reviewer
Did you know?
English speakers created acerbic in the 19th century by adding -ic to the adjective acerb. Acerb had been around since the 17th century, but for most of that time it had been used only to describe foods with a sour taste. (Acerb is still around today, but now it's simply a less common synonym of acerbic.) Acerbic and acerb ultimately come from the Latin adjective acerbus, which can mean "harsh" or "unpleasant." Another English word that comes from acerbus is exacerbate, which means "to make more violent or severe."
Examples of acerbic in a Sentence
Whitney has graced magazine covers for her acerbic and blunt evisceration of the banks she has covered. Several weeks ago, she left her well-paid post at Oppenheimer to start her own economic consultancy, where she will charge many of her employer's clients for her own unambiguous analysis.
—
Zachary Karabell, Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2009
… we probably have no choice but to enjoy Private Lives on its own terms—as a play that exults in its total lack of a public dimension. Coward's acerbic wit, his submerged sensibility, and his clipped semantics actually had a profound influence on the styles of virtually all the English dramatists who followed him …
—Robert Brustein, New Republic, 10 June 2002
… discovery of self-esteem and New Agey conclusions ("I discovered there was a goddess deep inside me") are something that an acerbic comedian like Cho shouldn't embrace without irony.
—Publishers Weekly, 7 May 2001
We want to experience how someone as acerbic as Jane Austen, as morally passionate as Dostoyevsky, as psychologically astute as Henry James makes sense of the chaos of this world.
—Laura Miller, New York Times Book Review, 15 Mar. 1998
the film's most acerbic critics
whispered a steady stream of acerbic comments as the lecturer droned on
Zachary Karabell, Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2009
… we probably have no choice but to enjoy Private Lives on its own terms—as a play that exults in its total lack of a public dimension. Coward's acerbic wit, his submerged sensibility, and his clipped semantics actually had a profound influence on the styles of virtually all the English dramatists who followed him …
—Robert Brustein, New Republic, 10 June 2002
… discovery of self-esteem and New Agey conclusions ("I discovered there was a goddess deep inside me") are something that an acerbic comedian like Cho shouldn't embrace without irony.
—Publishers Weekly, 7 May 2001
We want to experience how someone as acerbic as Jane Austen, as morally passionate as Dostoyevsky, as psychologically astute as Henry James makes sense of the chaos of this world.
—Laura Miller, New York Times Book Review, 15 Mar. 1998
the film's most acerbic critics
whispered a steady stream of acerbic comments as the lecturer droned on
Recent Examples on the Web
The sitcom, after all, technically began as a reboot of Roseanne, the charming and acerbic sitcom about a working-class family in Illinois that initially aired from 1988 to 1997.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Péter Szijjártó, a member of Orbán's right-wing Fidesz party, allied with many of the ideals of Trump's MAGA movement, welcomed the 's return to the White House while striking a consistently acerbic tone on E.U. sanctions against Russia.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Apr. 2025
Each installment of the writer-director Mike White’s acerbic satire opens with a guest at the titular hotel chain stumbling upon a dead body, before rewinding a week to introduce a motley crew of patrons and staff who might each end up being the deceased.
—Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 7 Apr. 2025
Hub is a second-generation bondsman, having followed in the footsteps of his acerbic mother — and, as a middle-aged divorcée, roommate — Kitty (Beth Grant).
—Alison Herman, Variety, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for acerbic
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Randall Colburn, EW.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Péter Szijjártó, a member of Orbán's right-wing Fidesz party, allied with many of the ideals of Trump's MAGA movement, welcomed the 's return to the White House while striking a consistently acerbic tone on E.U. sanctions against Russia.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Apr. 2025
Each installment of the writer-director Mike White’s acerbic satire opens with a guest at the titular hotel chain stumbling upon a dead body, before rewinding a week to introduce a motley crew of patrons and staff who might each end up being the deceased.
—Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 7 Apr. 2025
Hub is a second-generation bondsman, having followed in the footsteps of his acerbic mother — and, as a middle-aged divorcée, roommate — Kitty (Beth Grant).
—Alison Herman, Variety, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for acerbic
Cite this Entry
“Acerbic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acerbic. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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