as in insults
an act or expression showing scorn and usually intended to hurt another's feelings
delivered one last barb to his ex-girlfriend as he stalked away
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Recent Examples of barbs
The tenacious ex–Special Forces vet can be found tracking killers and trading barbs with his partner Jerry (Jamie Hector) in this long-running series drawn from Michael Connelly’s crime novels.
—
Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 15 June 2026
And in his second term, the leaders now openly trade barbs, disagreeing over tariffs, Ukraine and the Iran war.
—Darlene Superville, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026
In a real feather, the barbs can flash the same blue-green-bronze as the eyespot.
—Douglas Goodwin, The Conversation, 1 June 2026
Pledges of a united front fade as the booze flows and the barbs get sharper and sharper.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 1 June 2026
Republicans and Democrats have traded barbs about who is responsible for creating circumstances that allow for fraud and who is doing more to fix it.
—Laura Geller, CBS News, 27 May 2026
Despite the barbs flying Tuesday, the Democrat AGs implied in their letter that their agencies and federal law enforcement continue to collaborate on fraud investigations.
—Andrew Graham
may 27, Sacbee.com, 27 May 2026
The two Democrats traded barbs over the stadium.
—Olivia Olander, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2026
The brilliant dialogue—full of sarcasm, barbs, resentment, infuriation, competition but also underpinned by love—is so very perfectly sisterly!
—Literary Hub, 20 May 2026
Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 15 June 2026
And in his second term, the leaders now openly trade barbs, disagreeing over tariffs, Ukraine and the Iran war.
—Darlene Superville, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026
In a real feather, the barbs can flash the same blue-green-bronze as the eyespot.
—Douglas Goodwin, The Conversation, 1 June 2026
Pledges of a united front fade as the booze flows and the barbs get sharper and sharper.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 1 June 2026
Republicans and Democrats have traded barbs about who is responsible for creating circumstances that allow for fraud and who is doing more to fix it.
—Laura Geller, CBS News, 27 May 2026
Despite the barbs flying Tuesday, the Democrat AGs implied in their letter that their agencies and federal law enforcement continue to collaborate on fraud investigations.
—Andrew Graham
may 27, Sacbee.com, 27 May 2026
The two Democrats traded barbs over the stadium.
—Olivia Olander, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2026
The brilliant dialogue—full of sarcasm, barbs, resentment, infuriation, competition but also underpinned by love—is so very perfectly sisterly!
—Literary Hub, 20 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbs
Noun
-
The adversaries made for a striking scene, exchanging insults in mutually unintelligible languages in the dead of night.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2026
-
The president lobbed insults at the Fed chair and the two clashed over the budget for a multibillion-dollar renovation project at the Fed's Washington headquarters.—
Rachel Barber,
USA Today,
15 June 2026
Noun
-
First seen at a night-club table of menacing lowlifes, Ida, whose mother tongue is Brooklynese, suddenly switches to a heavy British accent and dispenses a torrent of highly literary sarcasms.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
4 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Barbs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbs. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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