barbative
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Possibly a blend of barb, in the sense of "a cutting remark" and rebarbative (“repellent, irritating”).
Adjective
[edit]barbative (comparative more barbative, superlative most barbative)
- Harshly critical or blunt; sarcastic.
- 2002, Colleen McCullough, The October Horse, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, pages 580–581:
- Most of the time he lay among the shadows, left the conversation to his elders. Except for those sudden, uncannily prescient, occasionally barbative, remarks. Uttered quietly but firmly.