acerbity.

1. A sharply critical or bitter quality in speech, humor, or a person's manner.

2. A harshly sour or bitter edge in the taste of food or drink.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• acerbity of tone
• characteristic acerbity
• increasing acerbity

On the page

A trace of acerbity entered her voice when he mentioned the promotion.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated prose. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: MW acerbity page plus acerbic link and current-use citations support sharp speech and sour food; plural acerbities verified. Writing functions: nuance, characterization.