tart

1 of 2

adjective

1
: agreeably sharp or acid to the taste
a tart apple
2
: marked by a biting, acrimonious, or cutting quality
a tart rejoinder
tartish adjective
tartly adverb
tartness noun

tart

2 of 2

noun

1
: a dish baked in a pastry shell : pie: such as
a
: a small pie or pastry shell without a top containing jelly, custard, or fruit
b
: a small pie made of pastry folded over a filling
2
a
: a promiscuous woman : a woman who has many sexual partners

Examples of tart in a Sentence

Adjective The wine is rather tart. The comedian responded to the heckler with a tart comeback. I didn't add enough sugar to the lemonade, and now it's way too tart.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
What separates this powder from its competition, though, is the addition of tart cherry powder. April Benshosan, Glamour, 13 Mar. 2024 Stuffed with spinach, green tomatoes, grilled crookneck squash and ricotta, it was surrounded by a tart tomato coulis and baked to a crispy top. Benjy Egel, Sacramento Bee, 7 Mar. 2024 The Fiddlehead Cellars 2016 Seven Twenty Eight Pinot Noir indeed features a tart spiciness that persists through a lengthy finish. Dave McIntyre, Washington Post, 29 Feb. 2024 The French Laundry’s co-founder uses tart tomatillos to bring brightness in this savory tortilla broth. Sarah Mosqueda, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2024 According to a press release, Graeter’s Lemon Meringue Pie ice cream is made with tart lemon candies, crunchy pie crust pieces, and lemon marshmallow ice cream. Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 1 Mar. 2024 For instance, Deft de Garde, a Biere de Garde; Sunset in Bruges, a tart Flanders red, and more. Peter Rowe, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Mar. 2024 The resulting wine is exceptionally balanced with aromas of cassis, graphite, cardamom, and tart cherry. Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 29 Feb. 2024 Baking projects were among our most-clicked, like this fudgy gluten-free chocolate cake that had even the test kitchen staff fooled, and a nutty chocolate and oat cookie studded with tart cherries. Nina Moskowitz, Bon Appétit, 27 Feb. 2024
Noun
The bakery makes three styles of the egg tarts, including crispy, original and Portuguese. Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2024 Their standard menu includes cakes, cupcakes, cookies, frozen treats and pastries such as muffins, cinnamon rolls and pop tarts. The Arizona Republic, 4 Mar. 2024 The clusters of bright orange berries are sweet, bitter, and tart, and also full of vitamins. Kristin Guy, Sunset Magazine, 1 Mar. 2024 Tuck into the mushroom tart, a taste of the forest atop fine pastry, or grilled skin-on trout, propped up by a field of creamy and meaty Sea Island red peas. Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024 The snacks industry in general, and biscuits in particular, has an oddly deep history in Michigan, dating back to when Will Keith Kellogg founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906, whose corporate descendant—and producer of the pop tart—is now called Kellanova. Sydney Lake, Fortune, 15 Feb. 2024 Celebrate Independence Day with patriotic pie recipes, star-shape scones, flag tarts, colorful Fourth of July milkshakes, fresh berry parfaits, and more. Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 15 Feb. 2024 Repeat with the remaining dough and filling, taking care to arrange the tarts at least 1 inch apart. Yi Jun Loh, Saveur, 8 Feb. 2024 Bake a savory carrot ribbon tart for a unique and flavorful pastry, or whip up a hearty parsnip and apple soup to keep you warm until spring arrives. Jenna Anderson, Sunset Magazine, 1 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tart.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, from Old English teart sharp, severe; akin to Middle High German traz spite

Noun

Middle English tart, tarte, borrowed from Anglo-French tarte (also continental Old French), probably altered from Old French torte, tourte "round loaf," going back to Late Latin tōrta, probably alteration of Latin torta "curved, bent, coiled, twisted," from feminine of tortus, past participle of torquēre "to twist tightly, wind"; (sense 2) earlier, in argot or slang of England, Australia, and New Zealand, "girlfriend," perhaps short for jam tart, rhyming slang for sweetheart — more at torture entry 1

Note: Late Latin <torta> is first attested in several passages of the Vulgate, once as <tortam panis> (with pānis in the genitive). The connection to tortus, an adjective meaning "coiled," would seem natural applied to a round loaf of bread, presumably formable by coiling the dough. French tourte, however, as well as Italian torta (with /o/, not /ɔ/), have the reflex of ō rather than ŏ, a change for which no completely acceptable explanation has been found. J. Coromines (Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico) sees Late Latin tōrta as originally the plural of a neuter *tōrtum, borrowed from Greek *tōrtídion, formed by crasis from tò artídion, a diminutive of ártos "bread"; though not impossible, the etymology depends crucially on multiple unattested forms. — French tarte would appear to be a modification of to(u)rte. It is attested with a variant tartre in late Old French and modern French dialects, and parallel words can be found in Italian: tartara (13th century) "cake made with almonds and sugar," Upper Italian tartra (Piedmont), tártera (Milan), tartra (Parma). These forms have been attributed to the influence of Medieval Latin tartarum "bitartrate of potassium" (see tartar entry 1), the crusts of which, formed in wine casks, would supposedly have had a likeness to crusts of bread or pastry.

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of tart was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near tart

Cite this Entry

“Tart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tart. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

tart

1 of 2 adjective
1
: pleasantly sharp or sour to the taste
2
: having a sharp or biting quality
a tart voice
tartly adverb
tartness noun

tart

2 of 2 noun
: a small pie or pastry shell containing jelly, custard, or fruit

More from Merriam-Webster on tart

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