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caustic was our Word of the Day on 07/22/2008. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of caustic in a Sentence
- His [Roosevelt's] caustic cousin, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, called him a sissy and a mama's boy. —Garry Wills, Atlantic, April 1994
- It was Schuyler's gift for satire and his caustic wit that distinguished his writings and led to his nickname, the Black Mencken. —Henry Louis Gates, Jr., New York Times Book Review, 20 Sept. 1992
- Albert quailed before those caustic pronouncements, he shuddered and blanched and felt his stomach drop like a croquette into a vat of hot grease. —T. Coraghessan Boyle, Harper's, October 1987
The chemical was so caustic that it ate through the pipes.
She wrote a caustic report about the decisions that led to the crisis.
Recent Examples of caustic from the Web
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D’Souza eventually discarded his more classically liberal conservatism for a caustic and conspiratorial strain of rhetoric.
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How does the love at the heart of fandom curdle into something so caustic?
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According to one of Cannon’s posts, Kyla suffered a second-degree caustic burn.
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Creating a mold and casting the artwork is an art in itself, along with caustic fumes and dangerous, molten bronze.
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The most caustic line of questions came from a centrist, Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt, the former Prime Minister of Belgium and now the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
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Harmon's brilliantly caustic play frames serious issues of Jewish identity within a breathtaking blitzkrieg of invective guaranteed to make your eardrums smolder.
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The botched wiretapping reports bookend a week that began with sharp criticisms — even by some journalists — of the White House correspondents' dinner, which featured a caustic comedy routine by Michelle Wolf.
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The caustic routine earned criticism from many attendees and viewers, including journalists and lawmakers.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'caustic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
If you have a burning desire to know the origins of "caustic," you're already well on the way to figuring it out. "Caustic" was borrowed into English in the 14th century from the Latin causticus, which itself derives from the Greek kaustikos. "Kaustikos," in turn, comes from the Greek verb kaiein, meaning "to burn." Other "kaiein" descendants in English include "cautery" and "cauterize," "hypocaust" (an ancient Roman heating system), "causalgia" (a burning pain caused by nerve damage), and "encaustic" (a kind of paint which is heated after it's applied).
Origin and Etymology of caustic
Latin causticus, from Greek kaustikos, from kaiein to burn
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: 14th century
in the meaning defined at sense 1
See Words from the same yearcaustic Synonyms
Synonyms
acerbic, acid, acidic, acrid, barbed, biting, corrosive, cutting, mordant, pungent, sarcastic, sardonic, satiric (or satirical), scalding, scathing, sharp, smart-aleck, smart-alecky, tart;
Near Antonyms
amusing, droll, merry, playful, sportive, waggish;
diplomatic, polite, smooth, suave, urbane;
Related Words
brisk, cross, sharp-tongued, sour, sourish, spiky (also spikey), tartish;
incisive, keen, poignant, trenchant;
cynical, dry, ironic (also ironical), wry;
facetious, flippant, tongue-in-cheek;
acrimonious, bitter, resentful, vitriolic;
harsh, rough, severe, stringent;
abrupt, blunt, brusque (also brusk), concise, crisp, curt, gruff, pithy, snippety, snippy, succinct, terse;
Synonym Discussion of caustic
caustic, mordant, acrid, scathing mean stingingly incisive. caustic suggests a biting wit.
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- caustic comments
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- mordant reviews of the play
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- acrid invective
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- a scathing satire
Definition of caustic
1
: a caustic agent: such as
a
: a substance that burns or destroys organic tissue by chemical action
b
: a strong corrosive alkali (such as sodium hydroxide)
Recent Examples of caustic from the Web
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The Sympathizer is the caustic, hyper-verbal tale of a double agent embedded in California after the end of the war, sending information back to Vietnam about the activities of the men who are both his friends and enemies.
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Mr. Trump’s other mentor was the caustic and conniving McCarthy-era lawyer Roy Cohn, who counseled Mr. Trump never to give in or concede error.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'caustic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of caustic
see 1caustic
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: 15th century
in the meaning defined at sense 1
See Words from the same yearCAUSTIC Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of caustic for English Language Learners
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: able to destroy or burn something by chemical action
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: very harsh and critical
CAUSTIC Defined for Kids
Medical Dictionary
medical Definition of caustic
: capable of destroying or eating away organic tissue and especially animal tissue by chemical action
- silver nitrate and sulfuric acid are caustic agents
medical Definition of caustic
: a caustic agent: as
a
: a substance that burns or destroys organic tissue by chemical action : escharotic
b
: a strong corrosive alkali (as sodium hydroxide)
Learn More about caustic
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for caustic Spanish Central: Translation of caustic Nglish: Translation of caustic for Spanish speakers
Seen and Heard
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