as in sarcastic
marked by the use of wit that is intended to cause hurt feelings
whispered a steady stream of acerbic comments as the lecturer droned on
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Recent Examples of acerbic
Lavery’s protagonist in Meeting New People is an acerbic older woman named Barbara, who is trying to optimize her next and potentially last friendship by analyzing what went wrong with failed best friendships in the past.
—
Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
Those med students, cocky know-it-all Ogilvy (Lucas Iverson) and acerbic, perceptive Joy (Irene Choi), are drops in a flood of new faces that mark one of the few ways a show set in a single place can meaningfully scale up.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Jan. 2026
During her speech, Paulson shared a bunch of text messages Keaton had sent her over the years, all of which were at once warm and acerbic, kind and a playfully combative.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 5 Jan. 2026
The book adaptation was earlier in the works at HBO Max as Amazon MGM Studio has greenlit an eight-episode young adult romance series about Campbell Cooper, an acerbic teenager dying of cancer.
—Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 16 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for acerbic
Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
Those med students, cocky know-it-all Ogilvy (Lucas Iverson) and acerbic, perceptive Joy (Irene Choi), are drops in a flood of new faces that mark one of the few ways a show set in a single place can meaningfully scale up.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Jan. 2026
During her speech, Paulson shared a bunch of text messages Keaton had sent her over the years, all of which were at once warm and acerbic, kind and a playfully combative.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 5 Jan. 2026
The book adaptation was earlier in the works at HBO Max as Amazon MGM Studio has greenlit an eight-episode young adult romance series about Campbell Cooper, an acerbic teenager dying of cancer.
—Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 16 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for acerbic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acerbic
Adjective
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But pull her away from the TV cameras, photographers and the prying eyes of the world, and her sarcastic-bordering-on-vulgar sense of humor bubbles to the surface.—
Dave Skretta,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Liu asked with a sarcastic scoff and giggle.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Our approaches can be critical, satirical, comical, dramatic, poetic, but will always be complex and complicated.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
21 Feb. 2026
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The book is a satirical story about a fictional reality TV show called Model Muse that was inspired by his experience on ANTM.—
Emma Banks,
InStyle,
21 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The acidic solution is placed in the base and water reservoir of the unplugged dehumidifier, and allowed to sit for up to 60 minutes to dissolve the mineral buildup.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
The Spruce,
25 Feb. 2026
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Sometimes compost becomes too acidic during decomposition, Ivanov says—fireplace ash helps neutralize this acidity.—
Michelle Mastro,
Martha Stewart,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
My parents were just children when they were wrested from their homes into tarpaper barracks surrounded by barbed wire.—
Julie Morita,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Feb. 2026
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During the First World War, neither Axis nor Allied generals fully appreciated the devastating effects of machine guns and barbed wire.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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An arrest has been made in an acid attack on a Long Island college student that happened nearly five years ago.—
Alexa Herrera,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
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As wine lovers’ taste in Chardonnay has moved from ripe and buttery to lean and racy, higher-acid, more-flavorful versions have come into vogue.—
Mike DeSimone,
Robb Report,
8 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Acerbic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acerbic. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.
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