acidulous

acidulous

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin acidulus (“sourish, acidulous”), dimunitive of acidus (“sour, acid”). See acid.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈsɪdjʊləs/, /əˈsɪd͡ʒələs/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Adjective

acidulous

1. Slightly sour; sub-acid; sourish.
   • 1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], 10th edition, London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], OCLC 559505243:

     the hard, acidulous, metallic tincture of the spring

2. (figuratively) Sharp; caustic.
   • 1931, William Somerset Maugham, His Excellency

     He talked with acidulous tolerance of the exalted personages who had sent Ashenden to X.

3. Containing carbonic acid.

   acidulous mineral waters

Translations

slightly sour

Bulgarian: възкисел (vǎzkisel) French: acidulé (fr) m, acidulée (fr) f Galician: acídulo (gl) German: säuerlich (de) Latin: acidulus Norwegian: Bokmål: syrlig (no) Nynorsk: syrleg Portuguese: acídulo (pt)