- sour
- sour, acid, acidulous, tart, dry mean having a taste devoid of sweetness. All but dry suggest the taste of lemons, vinegar, or of most unripe fruits. Sour and acid are often interchangeable, but sour is more likely to be chosen to describe something that through fermentation has lost its natural sweet or neutral taste or, sometimes, smell{
sour milk
}{sour wine
}and the term may additionally suggest a spoiled or rancid state{sour garbage
}Acid, on the other hand, is appropriately used to describe something having a sharp sweetless taste in its natural state usually due to the presence of chemical acids{acid fruits
}{acid drinks
}Acidulous and tart are applied, as a rule, to things which may be described as acid, acidulous implying a modest degree of acidity and tart, a sharp but often agreeable acidulousness or, sometimes, acidity{some mineral waters are pleasantly acidulous
}{most cooks prefer tart apples for pies and puddings
}Dry is usually applied to wines which, although without any sweetness, are bland and therefore neither definitely acid nor definitely sour.In their extended senses sour applies especially to what is crabbed or morose{a man with a prim sour mouth and an expression of eternal disapproval— Dahl
}and acidulous and tart to what is characterized by asperity, pungency, or sharpness{tart temper never mellows with age— Irving
}{what has been dull and dead in your years is now tart to the taste— Mailer
}{said in acidulous jest that in Congress the South takes a recurrent and unending revenge in behalf of the long-dead Lee— W. S. White
}Acid, partly by allusion to the corrosive powers of some acids, is likely to describe what is biting or caustic{his wit became acid; his letters are filled with caustic comment to sharpen the temper of those on the fighting line— Partington
}while dry may suggest matter-of-fact impersonal presentation of what is humorous, ironic, or sarcastic{there seemed to be a faint tinge of appeal in his eyes, curiously contrasted with the dry tone and the mocking words— Wouk
}{a story . . . dry and ironical in its beginning— Pritchett
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
