Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective caustic contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of caustic are acrid, mordant, and scathing. While all these words mean "stingingly incisive," caustic suggests a biting wit.

caustic comments

When is acrid a more appropriate choice than caustic?

While the synonyms acrid and caustic are close in meaning, acrid implies bitterness and often malevolence.

acrid invective

In what contexts can mordant take the place of caustic?

In some situations, the words mordant and caustic are roughly equivalent. However, mordant suggests a wit that is used with deadly effectiveness.

mordant reviews of the play

When might scathing be a better fit than caustic?

Although the words scathing and caustic have much in common, scathing implies indignant attacks delivered with fierce severity.

a scathing satire

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of caustic No one really thinks Porter will play more than a dozen games with the Bucks before being released following (your choice; gun charges, domestic battery arrest, creating a caustic locker room, being banned by the NBA for on-court behavior, or _____) do they? Eric Nehm, The Athletic, 24 Feb. 2025 In part, that’s because both actors are delivering impeccable work, balancing their caustic comic chemistry with course, unbridled vulnerability. Ben Travers, IndieWire, 10 Apr. 2025 It’s been more than 40 years since Mamet’s crop of caustic salesmen first hit the Broadway stage, becoming both a darling among critics and, seemingly, the dream production of every middle-aged male actor. Emlyn Travis, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2025 Poppy Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven Dance-pop/rock singer/songwriter and YouTube video sensation Poppy brings her caustic view of the modern world to Toad’s Place on March 31 at 8 p.m. $53. Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 29 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for caustic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for caustic
Adjective
  • Green’s teammate, Moses Moody, gave a sarcastic response to Brooks’ assertion.
    Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2025
  • It was followed by a sarcastic post targeting Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).
    Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 16 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • That’s the premise of Douglas Is Cancelled, a cruelly funny 2024 BBC sitcom that seems very much in sync with satiric comedies such as The Office and W1A and Yes Minister.
    Air Mail, Air Mail, 22 Mar. 2025
  • Misery, a horror movie with a satiric streak, launched Bates’s film stardom.
    Tim Grierson, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Served in a shallow pool of rich but refreshingly acidic sauce, the legs are prepared to just short of fall-off-the-bone.
    Mike Jordan, Bon Appetit Magazine, 2 May 2025
  • Some plants, such as blueberries, azaleas and camellias, prefer acidic soils, i.e., soils with a pH below 7.
    Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The vintage was a cool one, allowing the grapes to mature slowly in autumn to balance sweet and acid components.
    John Mariani, Forbes.com, 18 Apr. 2025
  • The acid content of these foods irritates your child's skin, causing redness that can look like a rash.6 Viruses and Bacterial Infections Certain viral or bacterial infections may cause multiple symptoms around the mouth, including a rash.
    Wendy Wisner, Health, 18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Standing in front of an array of 4,500 Canadian solar panels and across from a wall topped with barbed wire, Gov. Ned Lamont today announced the completion of seven solar projects at prisons located in Enfield, Cheshire and Somers.
    Emilia Otte, Hartford Courant, 25 Apr. 2025
  • Some of the humor has a barbed, geopolitical aim in a war for the world’s hearts and minds — see the Chinese government’s fusillade of memes — but political scientists say that, for many people, humor is a natural response to stressful times.
    Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Whereas Videodrome could once reductively be described as a cautionary tale about the corrosive influence of television, its anxieties have only grown more trenchant.
    A.A. Dowd, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
  • Both teachers said the effects of AI are more corrosive on younger students who don't have the foundations of knowledge that college and graduate students do.
    Ivana Saric, Axios, 30 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Caustic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/caustic. Accessed 12 May. 2025.

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