🥧 A sweet pastry 🚫 A prostitute 🎉 To decorate showily 🍋 Sharp flavor 💬 Harsh remark

tart

1 6.7

A sharp, biting remark that hurts or criticizes

adjective
/tɑrt/

Slang

: ácido

He responded with a tart remark that surprised his friends.

Examples

"Is this the young man we've been waiting for?" The woman's voice no longer sounded quite so tart.

Fiction book (1999)
Yael's tone was tart.

Fiction book (1993)
Her comment was so tart that it made everyone in the room uncomfortable.
The teacher's tart tone indicated her displeasure with the students' behavior.

Synonyms

brutal

vstart

50 4.1

Very direct and harsh in a way that can hurt people

is cutting but usually less blunt and less about frankness

sharp

vstart

46 4.2

Harsh critical words or actions that hurt others

is similarly harsh in tone but less general in severity

scathing

vstart

19 7.7

Very strong, harsh criticism that hurts or shocks people

is critical but generally less extreme in condemnation

abrasive

vstart

18 6.5

Showing little concern for other people's feelings

is sharp but not necessarily uncaring about listener feelings

catty

vstart

Offensive

12 7.2

Saying mean, hurtful things about someone

is sharp but not necessarily spiteful or sly

caustic

vstart

9 7.4

Being very sharp and unkind in speech or writing

is sharp in tone without always adding sarcasm or irony

acrimonious

vstart

9 8.4

Full of angry, bitter words in a speech or argument

is sharp in tone but not always rooted in anger

acerbic

vstart

8 8.2

Speech or writing that is harsh and likely to offend people

is similarly cutting but often less systematically critical

corrosive

vstart

7 7.1

Expressing harsh, biting criticism that hurts people or their confidence

is sharp yet not always meant to be damagingly sarcastic

pungent

vstart

2 6.5

Sharp, biting words that can hurt or shock people

is sharp in tone but often less intensely wounding

mordant

vstart

Formal

1 8.7

Expressing sharp, often ironic criticism that can feel harsh

is harsh but usually without focused irony or wit

barbed

vstart

1 6.7

Words said to hurt or criticize someone

is sharp but not necessarily crafted to prick like barbs

acrid

vstart

1 7.5

A harsh, bitter way of speaking that shows anger or criticism

is sharp without necessarily adding bitter hostility

narky

vstart

1 9.9

Having a sharp, unfriendly tone that criticizes others

is sharp yet less consistently irritable or sarcastic

biting

vstart

5.4

Harsh, sharply critical words that hurt people

is sharp but not always intended to hurt

stinging

vstart

6.3

Harsh or hurtful in a way that makes someone feel upset

is cutting but can be less intended to cause emotional harm

sharp-worded

vstart

7.1

Saying harsh words to criticize someone or something

is sharp in tone but may be less explicitly worded

tonguey

vstart

Informal

8.9

Quick to say sharp things that hurt

is sharp but not defined by quickness or frequent cutting

sharpish

vstart

7.4

A little rude and short in the way someone speaks

is sharp with a stronger, more biting quality

Antonyms

kind

534 1.0

Being helpful and caring toward other people

gentle

235 1.0

Kind and not strong in action, sound, or touch

Compounds

pop tart

20 2.7

A thin sweet pastry with a fruit or chocolate filling that you heat in a toaster

apple tart

3 1.0

A baked sweet pastry like a pie with sliced apples and sugar

fruit tart

1 1.8

A pastry with cream or custard topped with fresh fruit

lobster tart

6.7

A pastry shell filled with cooked lobster often served as a starter

How Sharp

scathing

19 7.7

acerbic

8 8.2

tart

Slang

1 6.7

sharp

46 4.2

Surface Forms

tart positive

Etymology

Tart for a sharp remark comes from the same idea as a 'sharp' taste in food; a tart comment 'bites' like a sour flavour, which is why it feels harsh or cutting.