Sour or bitter tasting; acid. See Synonyms at bitter.
Sharp or biting, as in character or expression: "At times, the playwright allows an acerbic tone to pierce through otherwise arid or flowery prose"(Alvin Klein).
[From Latin acerbus; see ak- in Indo-European roots.] a·cer'bi·cal·ly adv.
(ə-sûrb') 
