1
: having barbs
2
: characterized by pointed and biting criticism or sarcasm
barbed witticisms
Examples of barbed in a Sentence
The candidates exchanged barbed comments during the debate.
barbed satire on American academia
Recent Examples on the Web
Ivor checked it, and then spotted the line of barbed wire threaded through the scrub.
—
Anne Enright, New Yorker, 27 July 2025
That speculative element is teased right there in the title: One of God’s best and brightest has been knocked from heaven by war’s tumult and is caught in a thatch of barbed wire.
—Ben H. Winters, New York Times, 26 July 2025
Separate entrances and ticket windows, barriers like railings, chains, and even barbed wire, plus police and/or Pinkerton deployments, were all used to maintain the separation of fans in the period about which Carlino writes.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 23 July 2025
The cost to rent 400 feet of 8-foot-tall, chain-link fencing with barbed wire along the top is $5,580 for two years.
—Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 22 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for barbed
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Anne Enright, New Yorker, 27 July 2025
That speculative element is teased right there in the title: One of God’s best and brightest has been knocked from heaven by war’s tumult and is caught in a thatch of barbed wire.
—Ben H. Winters, New York Times, 26 July 2025
Separate entrances and ticket windows, barriers like railings, chains, and even barbed wire, plus police and/or Pinkerton deployments, were all used to maintain the separation of fans in the period about which Carlino writes.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 23 July 2025
The cost to rent 400 feet of 8-foot-tall, chain-link fencing with barbed wire along the top is $5,580 for two years.
—Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 22 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for barbed
Cite this Entry
“Barbed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barbed. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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