Acerbic vs Cruel - What's the difference?
acerbic | cruel |
Tasting sour or bitter.
* 1998 Aug. 5, Dr. Peter Gott, "
Sharp, harsh, biting.
* 1986 Sept. 22, "
* 2005 May 5, Jay Mathews, "Don't Fire This Professor," Washington Post , p. T6:
Not nice; mean; heartless.
(slang) Cool; awesome; neat.
To spoil or ruin (one's chance of success)
As adjectives the difference between acerbic and cruel
is that acerbic is tasting sour or bitter while cruel is not nice; mean; heartless.As a verb cruel is
to spoil or ruin (one's chance of success.acerbic
English
Adjective
(en adjective)Can inhaler cause addiction?," Catoosa County News (retrieved 19 Sep 2009):
- Those consumers who object to the acerbic taste of garlic can purchase de-odorized garlic or allicin extract.
West Germany: Last Taunts From the Lip," Time (retrieved 25 Apr 2014):
- Supercompetent, superconfident and supercritical, Schmidt is a gifted orator whose acerbic wit earned him the nickname "Schmidt the Lip."
- [H]e is one of the most acerbic people in his field, quick to take offense and not shy about telling people with whom he disagrees how much he thinks they have failed in thought and action.
Synonyms
* (sour or bitter) acerb, acrid * acrid, scathingAnagrams
*cruel
English
Adjective
(en-adj)- The supervisor was very cruel to Josh, as he would always give Josh the hardest, most degrading work he could find.