Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
sourball

sourball

4.2
A small hard round candy that tastes very sour
  • noun
  • /ˈsaʊərˌbɔl/
translation icon : caramelo ácido
  • He enjoyed a sourball while reading the newspaper on a sunny afternoon.

Examples

  • She pops a sourball from its cellophane wrapper and, after putting it into her mouth, sighs loudly.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • In the course of our lively discussion, I learned that he belongs to the sourballs who are of the opinion that it is completely legitimate to cut fundamental physics since it is not important compared to the "real world" problems humanity faces at present, etc. etc.

    Blog text (30)

  • "Pneumonia," said an old lady around the sourballs in her mouth.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Boy, how did this discussion upset me since I never thought that these two colleagues were among such hardcore sourballs?

    Blog text (30)

  • "For you," she murmured, slipping a bag of sourballs into my pocket.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • She popped a sourball into her mouth and smiled at the tart flavor.

  • The children eagerly grabbed sourballs from the candy jar at the birthday party.

Synonyms

candy
vssourball
  • US
863 1.0

A small sweet made from sugar, often with chocolate or nuts

is hard and has a tart or sour flavor rather than plain sweet

How Sour

sourball
4.2
lemon drop
  • US
3 1.3

Surface Forms

sourball singular
sourballs plural

Morphology

sourball = sour + ball (semi-transparent) = sour + ball

While the components 'sour' and 'ball' are clear, the specific meaning of a 'round piece of hard candy with a tart or sour flavor' is a specialized usage.

Etymology

The word sourball is simply made from sour ('tart') and ball ('round object'). So a sourball is a small round candy that tastes tart and makes your mouth pucker.