ACERB is a valid Scrabble word — 9 points
Yes. ACERB is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 9 points in Scrabble and 11 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept ACERB?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Valid |
Word power: 31 / 100
Our own measure of how useful ACERB is to know. It scores 9 from 5 tiles, takes 0 hooks, and its letters make up 6.2% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for ACERB
No single letter turns ACERB into another word.
How ACERB scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in ACERB, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| a | 1 | 9 |
| c | 1 | 2 |
| e | 1 | 12 |
| r | 1 | 6 |
| b | 1 | 2 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 29,046.
What stands out about ACERB
- The same 5 tiles also spell 3 other words, so the rack is worth re-reading before you play it.
Counted from the four word lists we hold, not taken from anywhere else. How we calculate things
What does ACERB mean in Scrabble?
adjective
literary
Sharp, sour or bitter in taste, or, of a person's manner or remarks, harsh, biting and forthright; a less common variant of acerbic.
Writers reach for acerb to describe unripe fruit or a harsh, biting wine, using the word in much the same way a taster might use sour or tart, but with a sharper, more literary edge. The same word extends easily to people and speech, so an acerb critic delivers judgments in a cutting, unsparing tone that leaves little room for comfort or flattery. Acerb and its more common relative acerbic share the same Latin root and essentially the same meaning, but modern English speakers reach for acerbic far more often, leaving acerb to sound slightly old-fashioned or deliberately literary by comparison. A reviewer who calls a critic's style acerb is usually choosing the word precisely because of that faintly formal, bookish flavor.
How ACERB is used
Literary and somewhat old-fashioned; used mainly in careful or formal prose where the more common acerbic would otherwise appear.
- The critic's acerb review left the playwright fuming.
- She took a bite of the acerb, unripe plum and winced.
- His acerb wit made him few friends at the dinner table.
- The editor softened the writer's most acerb remarks before publication.
- An acerb tone crept into her voice as the argument continued.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of ACERB and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of ACERB
The 5 tiles of ACERB in a different order — 3 found.
Words starting with ACERB
10 longer words begin with ACERB.
Words with ACERB inside
9 words contain ACERB in the middle. Words that start with ACERB are listed separately above, so nothing is repeated.
Shorter words from the letters in ACERB
Common questions about ACERB
- Is ACERB valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts ACERB, where it scores 11 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is ACERB worth?
- ACERB is worth 9 points in Scrabble and 11 points in Words with Friends.
- What does ACERB mean?
- Sharp, sour or bitter in taste, or, of a person's manner or remarks, harsh, biting and forthright; a less common variant of acerbic.
- What letters can be added to ACERB?
- No single letter can be added to ACERB to make another word.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of ACERB:
Open ACERB in the Word Finder