Tart Meaning
/tɑɹt/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjSharp to the taste; acid; sour.
adjHigh or too high in acidity.
Sentence Examples
After I pick some blueberries, I make a tart.
To make a tart, you need eggs, butter and sugar.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The green apple had a ____ taste that made my lips pucker.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The fresh lemon pie had a very ____ and sharp taste that was perfectly balanced by the sweet cream today.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[French president Emmanuel] Macron fired back [at US president Donald Trump] on Thursday with his own tart riposte, telling journalists, “This is not a show. We are talking about war and peace. ... When you want to be serious,” he continued, “you don’t say every day the opposite of what you said the day before.”"
— 2026 April 5, Howard LaFranchi, “Trump’s war in Iran puts new strain on alliances. Why this time it’s different.”, in The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC:
"We know the majority of the places that these tarts will hang out at."
— 1950, Roy E. Blick (police inspector), testimony before the United States Congress:
"In the garden I was playing the tart / I kissed your lips and broke your heart"
— 1991, “Until the End of the World”, in Bono (lyrics), Achtung Baby, performed by U2:
"The NYU [New York University] tarts and the club slime, the art holes and the once-a-week bridge-and-tunnel leatherettes, the spikes and the usual dregs and walking garbage, Eel was giving them all the hiss."
— 1994, George Dawes Green, chapter 27, in The Caveman’s Valentine, New York, N.Y.: Warner Books, →ISBN; ebook edition, New York, N.Y.: Warner Books, March 2001, →ISBN:
"She told the Sun: "I'm talked about as an 'easy girl', the 'blonde slut' who distracted the captain and caused the crash. It's so wrong. I'm not some little tart.""
— 2013 November 13, “Costa Concordia captain's mistress reveals late night sex sessions in cabin before doomed cruise liner sank”, in Daily Mirror:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The green apple had a ____ taste that made my lips pucker.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The fresh lemon pie had a very ____ and sharp taste that was perfectly balanced by the sweet cream today.