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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Emmy-nominated for the role the first time out, Ramsey is genius in it, the perfect amounts of precocious, sarcastic, and wide-eyedly vulnerable.—
Zing Tsjeng,
Vogue,
11 Apr. 2025 -
What about someone who posts a meme that is satirical or a comment that is meant to be sarcastic?—
Peter Suciu,
Forbes.com,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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That’s the premise of Douglas Is Cancelled, a cruelly funny 2024 BBC sitcom that seems very much in sync with satiric comedies such as The Office and W1A and Yes Minister.—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
22 Mar. 2025
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Misery, a horror movie with a satiric streak, launched Bates’s film stardom.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Alice in Wonderland is the exception with a $1 billion global take, made with the acid stylings of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp when the latter was hot as hell in a pre-streaming 2010.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
31 Mar. 2025
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The company is a leading supplier of liquid and dry, acid and bicarbonate concentrates for dialysis patients in the United States.—
Quartz Intelligence Newsroom,
Quartz,
20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Make sure the soil is well-drained and acidic with pH levels ranging between 4.5-6.0. Consider laying down mulch to help the plants retain more moisture.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
8 Apr. 2025
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The warmer temperatures on the ocean surface are more acidic, which favors algae.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The season does pepper throughout a sense that Santos has a real heart under all that barbed wire.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2025
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The base that this is based on now has a bunch of barbed wire and fencing.—
Fred Topel,
Deadline,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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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
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Yelena, Ava and Walker jump in, and everyone takes out the troops with their acerbic fighting skills.—
Nancy Tartaglione,
Deadline,
3 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Acerb.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acerb. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
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