Results

Definition of acerbity : 1. Harshness, bitterness, or severity; as, acerbity of temper, of language, of pain.
2. Sourness of taste, with bitterness and astringency, like that of unripe fruit.

Synonyms:

sour, sarcasm, mordancy, thorniness, asperity, roughness, virulence, spininess, malignity, icterus, mordacity, corrosiveness, rudeness, trenchancy, bristliness, moroseness, unkindness, rancour, acridity, respect, laughter, gall, bitter, jaundice

crabbedness, petulance, irritability, crossness, acidity, peevishness, huffiness, crankiness, bitterness, bitchiness, surliness, sourness, pettiness, touchiness, bearishness, cantankerousness, crustiness, churlishness, prickliness, tartness, spitefulness, bellicosity, acrimony, irascibility

intensity, matter-of-factness, abruptness, meticulousness, gruffness, sternness, correctness, chilliness, austerity, discipline, keenness, crispness, frostiness, grimness, sharpness, rigorousness, dryness, briskness, stringency, strictness, coolness, acuteness, starkness, astringency, bleakness, authoritarianism, severity, harshness, preciseness, causticity, brusqueness, leanness, bluntness, oppressiveness

pungency, piquancy, unripeness

ill humor, pique, resentment, discontent, irritation, wrath, spite, dissatisfaction, bile, rancor, vexation, envy, indignation, antagonism, hard feelings, sullenness, soreness, umbrage, offense, infuriation

Usage examples:

• No doubt La Touche, who was cursed with the miserable fate of possessing the temperament of genius without the electric spark itself, magnified the help he had given, and felt extreme bitterness at the shortness of memory shown by the great writer, whom he vainly strove to sting into feeling by the acerbity of his attacks. - "Honore de Balzac, His Life and Writings", Mary F. Sandars.
• " I pray you, my son," she retorted with unusual acerbity, " do you want a million or do you not?" - "The Nest of the Sparrowhawk", Baroness Orczy.
• " I thank you, Herr von Eschenhagen," she said with acerbity. - "The Northern Light", E. Werner.