as in insult
an act or expression showing scorn and usually intended to hurt another's feelings
delivered one last barb to his ex-girlfriend as he stalked away
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of barb
Surfers have been out in great numbers at this popular surf spot, thanks to smallish surf, somewhat warm water — by winter standards — and sunny skies after days of rain, meaning more beachgoers came across the stingrays and their pointy barbs.
—
Laylan Connelly, Oc Register, 13 Jan. 2026
The House Oversight Committee’s first hearing on the Minnesota fraud scandal was complete with lawmakers pointing fingers and exchanging barbs in heated exchanges.
—Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 8 Jan. 2026
Gizelle and Stacey continue to throw barbs at each other.
—Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 5 Jan. 2026
After months of trading barbs throughout the New York City mayoral campaign, President Donald Trump and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani finally met face-to-face in the Oval Office this week.
—NBC news, 23 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for barb
Laylan Connelly, Oc Register, 13 Jan. 2026
The House Oversight Committee’s first hearing on the Minnesota fraud scandal was complete with lawmakers pointing fingers and exchanging barbs in heated exchanges.
—Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 8 Jan. 2026
Gizelle and Stacey continue to throw barbs at each other.
—Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 5 Jan. 2026
After months of trading barbs throughout the New York City mayoral campaign, President Donald Trump and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani finally met face-to-face in the Oval Office this week.
—NBC news, 23 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for barb
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barb
Noun
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The chief executive of Ryanair on Wednesday dismissed Elon Musk’s idea of buying the budget airline and shrugged off insults from the billionaire, in a war of words that erupted over installing Starlink systems on aircraft.—
Kelvin Chan,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Jan. 2026
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Thought of as the graffiti of its time, the inscriptions also included stories about daily life, sporting events, passions and insults, carved into a passageway that connected Pompeii's theater district to one of its main roads.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
20 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Ken Marino brings his signature goofball sarcasm to Vinnie Van Lowe, a sleazy rival sleuth whose morals are as low as his sense of humor.—
Sezin Koehler,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Jan. 2026
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Zohran Mamdani’s genial grin would have seemed unsustainably mild in the angry eighties, when Koch’s sarcasm fenced with Giuliani’s snarl, occasionally relieved by Mario Cuomo’s solemnity.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Barb.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barb. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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