Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Acerbity

A-cerb′i-ty

,
Noun.
[F.
acerbité
, L.
acerbitas
, fr.
acerbus
. See
Acerb
.]
1.
Sourness of taste, with bitterness and astringency, like that of unripe fruit.
2.
Harshness, bitterness, or severity;
as,
acerbity
of temper, of language, of pain
.
Barrow.

Webster 1828 Edition


Acerbity

ACERB'ITY

,
Noun.
1.
A sourness, with roughness, or astringency.
2.
Figuratively, harshness or severity of temper in man.

Definition 2024


acerbity

acerbity

English

Noun

acerbity (plural acerbities)

  1. Sourness of taste, with bitterness and astringency, like that of unripe fruit.
  2. Harshness, bitterness, or severity; as, acerbity of temper, of language, of pain.
    • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Case of Miss Elliott:
      “Well?” I repeated with some acerbity. I had been wondering for the last ten minutes how many more knots he would manage to make in that same bit of string before he actually started undoing them again.

Translations

References

  • acerbity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913