Word of the Day

Thursday November 12, 2009

acidulous [uh-SIJ-uh-luhs]

adjective

"Cluizel 99%. Created from the highly respected Criollo cocoa from Madagascar. Pralus have produced a flamboyant character dark chocolate with many fruit and acidulous, top notes from raspberry to red wine, continuing through the more caramelized richer flavours to a treacle-like finish. A very fine chocolate as one should expect from such a high grade of cocoa used and its reputable origin."

Karen Gram, "A chocolate lover's paradise; Love it, savour it, celebrate it", The Vancouver Sun, Oct 15, 2009
He believes in that quaint document known as the Constitution, which sets firm limits on presidential power abroad that have been routinely flouted by presidents since the onset of the cold war. Some of Will's most acidulous passages therefore center on the Republican Party's exaltation of military power as the prescription for curing America's foreign policy woes.

Jacob Heilbrunn, "The Conservator", New York Times Book Review, Jun 15, 2008
The customer, an acidulous, sharp-featured, showily dressed person—the sort, Gabriella decided, who would enjoy haggling over a bargain—regarded the offered hat with a supercilious and guarded manner, the true manner of the haggler.

Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow ( 1873 - 1945) A Pulitzer Prize winning American novelist. Life and Gabriella - The Story of a Woman's Courage (1916)

Origin of the Word

Acidulous, approximately 1769, derives from Latin acidulus "slightly sour," a diminutive of acidus.