acidulous en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /əˈsɪd͡ʒələs/
- (Southern-England) audio
- /əˈsɪdjʊləs/
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin acidulus (“sourish, acidulous”), diminutive of acidus (“sour, acid”). See acid. By surface analysis, acid + -ule + -ous.
Meanings
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Slightly sour; subacid; sourish.
the hard, acidulous, metallic tincture of the spring
1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
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(figuratively) Sharp; caustic.
He talked with acidulous tolerance of the exalted personages who had sent Ashenden to X.
1931, William Somerset Maugham, His Excellency:
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Containing carbonic acid.
acidulous mineral waters
Deriveds
subacidulous · nonacidulous · acidulousness · acidulously
Translations (10)
gl acídulo (slightly sour) · fi happamahko (slightly sour) · pt acídulo (slightly sour) · la acidulus (slightly sour) · nb syrlig (slightly sour) · fr acidulé (slightly sour) · nn syrleg (slightly sour) · bg възкисел (slightly sour) · ota مایخوش (slightly sour) · de säuerlich (slightly sour)