acidly

acidly

English

Etymology

acid +‎ -ly

Adverb

acidly (comparative more acidly, superlative most acidly)

1. sourly; tartly
   • 1882, Herman Charles Merivale, Faucit Of Balliol, London: Chapman & Hall, Chapter 15, p. 385,

     Perchance, when you are speculating why he is so acidly disposed some morning, he is but meditating upon that other half-hour which he wanted in bed, to bring his wits and his good-temper about him.

   • 1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, “A Bloody Cheekbone”

     Flay involuntarily propels his gawky body forwards as he hears that his Lordship wants him, but he pulls himself up at the end of his first long step towards the door, and peers even more suspiciously and acidly at the youth in his immaculate black cloth.

   • 1974, “Ballet of Death,” Time, 21 October, 1974,

     In a brief two decades, the young British dramatists who railed angrily at the Establishment have been succeeded by caustic young playwrights who acidly mock the welfare state.

Synonyms

• acerbically

Anagrams

• acidyl, diacyl