tart
adj.adj. having a sharp, sour taste like a lemon or an unripe apple. You can also use it to describe a way of speaking that is sharp or slightly unkind.
adj. having a sharp, pungent, or sour taste; acidic. When describing speech or tone, it implies a biting, cutting, or sharp quality that is often critical.
The green apples are very tart.
She added a little extra sugar to the pie because the berries were quite tart.
The critic's tart review of the performance left the young director questioning his creative choices for the remainder of the season.
From Middle English tart, from Old English teart (“sharp, rough, severe”), from Proto-West Germanic tart, from Proto-Germanic tartaz (“rough, sharp, tearing”), from Proto-Germanic teraną (“to tear”), from Proto-Indo-European der- (“to flay, split, cleave”). Related to Scots tairt (“tart; tartness”), Dutch tarten (“to defy, challenge, mock”), German trotzen (“to defy, brave, mock”), perhaps Albanian thartë (“sour, acid, sharp”).
From Middle English tart, tarte, from Old French tarte, tartre (“flat pastry”) (compare Medieval Latin tarta), of unknown origin. Perhaps an alteration of Old French torte, tourte, from Latin turta, perhaps from tŏrta f (“twisted”), in which case it would be cognate to torta.
From a rebracketing of sweetheart, or from jam tart (“attractive woman”) by shortening.
Often used to describe fruit, wine, or a person's tone of voice.