2. Harshness, bitterness, or severity; as, acerbity of temper, of language, of pain. --Barrow. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
acerbity — [n1] bitterness of taste acidity, asperity, astringency, mordancy, sourness, tartness; concepts 462,613 Ant. mellowness, mildness, sweetness acerbity [n2] harsh speech, behavior acrimoniousness, causticity, ill temper, irritability, rancor,… … New thesaurus
acerbity — index ill will, rancor, severity Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
acerbity — (n.) 1570s, from M.Fr. acerbité, from L. acerbitatem (nom. acerbitas) harshness, sharpness, bitterness, from acerbus bitter, sharp, tart (related to acer sharp; Cf. L. superbus haughty, from super above ), from PIE *ak sharp (see … Etymology dictionary
acerbity — *acrimony, asperity Analogous words: sourness, acidity, tartness (see corresponding adjectives at SOUR): crabbedness, surliness, dourness, saturninity (see corresponding adjectives at SULLEN): bitterness, acridity (see corresponding adjectives at … New Dictionary of Synonyms
acerbity — [ə sʉr′bə tē] n. pl. acerbities [Fr acerbité < L acerbitas < acerbus, bitter < IE base * ak̑ : see ACID] 1. a sour, astringent quality 2. sharpness, bitterness, or harshness of temper, words, etc … English World dictionary
acerbity — noun /əˈsɜːbɪti,əˈsɝbɪdi/ a) Sourness of taste, with bitterness and astringency, like that of unripe fruit. b) Harshness, bitterness, or severity; as, acerbity of temper, of language, of pain … Wiktionary
acerbity — [[t]əsɜ͟ː(r)bɪti[/t]] N UNCOUNT Acerbity is a kind of bitter, critical humour. [FORMAL] … English dictionary
acerbity — acerbic ► ADJECTIVE 1) sharp and forthright. 2) archaic or technical tasting sour or bitter. DERIVATIVES acerbically adverb acerbity noun. ORIGIN from Latin acerbus sour tasting … English terms dictionary
acerbity — noun (plural ties) Date: 1572 the quality of being acerbic … New Collegiate Dictionary
acerbity — /euh serr bi tee/, n. 1. sourness, with roughness or astringency of taste. 2. harshness or severity, as of temper or expression. [1565 75; < L acerbitas. See ACERBIC, ITY] * * * … Universalium
