caustic

[kaw-stik]

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adjective

capable of burning, corroding, or destroying living tissue.
severely critical or sarcastic: a caustic remark.

noun

a caustic substance.
Optics.
1. caustic curve.
2. caustic surface.

Origin of caustic

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin causticus < Greek kaustikós burning, caustic, equivalent to kaust(ós) burnt (verbal adjective of kaíein to burn) + -ikos -ic

Related formscaus·ti·cal·ly, caus·tic·ly, adverbcaus·tic·i·ty

[kaw-stis-i-tee] /kɔˈstɪs ɪ ti/, caus·tic·ness, nounnon·caus·tic, adjectivenon·caus·ti·cal·ly, adverbo·ver·caus·tic, adjectiveo·ver·caus·ti·cal·ly, adverbo·ver·caus·tic·i·ty, nounun·caus·tic, adjectiveun·caus·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Synonyms for caustic

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2. biting, mordant, bitter, scathing, acid.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for caustically

acerbically, acrimoniously, bitingly, caustically, maliciously, sneeringly

Examples from the Web for caustically

Contemporary Examples of caustically

If he was getting hot around the collar, Ziffer said caustically, it was "partly because I'm one of those hot-headed Levantines."
For My Money, I'll Take the Al-Kuwaitis
Gershom Gorenberg
May 6, 2013
“Only blue-eyed blondes get any press,” he caustically wrote.
A Serial Killer's Free Rein
Mansfield Frazier
November 6, 2009

Historical Examples of caustically

"'The way is clear enough wi'oot that," from Tammas caustically.
Bob, Son of Battle
Alfred Ollivant
"I told you you hadn't swallowed 'em," remarked Matilda, caustically.
Master of the Vineyard
Myrtle Reed
"The latter at all costs, I presume," said Barbara, caustically.
The Shadow of the Czar
John R. Carling
"We are not playing at tin politics nowadays," he caustically remarked.
The Secret of the League
Ernest Bramah
"That is very easy to say, uncle," replied Gonzalo caustically.
The Fourth Estate, vol. 2
Armando Palacio Valds

British Dictionary definitions for caustically

caustic

adjective

capable of burning or corroding by chemical actioncaustic soda
sarcastic; cuttinga caustic reply
of, relating to, or denoting light that is reflected or refracted by a curved surface

noun

Also called: caustic surface a surface that envelops the light rays reflected or refracted by a curved surface
Also called: caustic curve a curve formed by the intersection of a caustic surface with a plane
chem a caustic substance, esp an alkali

Derived Formscaustical, adjectivecaustically, adverbcausticity (kɔːˈstɪsɪtɪ) or causticness, noun

Word Origin for caustic

C14: from Latin causticus, from Greek kaustikos, from kaiein to burn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for caustically

caustic

adj.

c.1400, "burning, corrosive," from Latin causticus "burning, caustic," from Greek kaustikos "capable of burning; corrosive," from kaustos "combustible; burnt," verbal adjective from kaiein, the Greek word for "to burn" (transitive and intransitive) in all periods, of uncertain origin with no certain cognates outside Greek. Figurative sense of "sarcastic" is attested from 1771. As a noun, early 15c., from the adjective.

caustically in Medicine

caustic

[kô′stĭk]

A hydroxide of a light metal.
A caustic material or substance.

adj.

Capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action.
Of or relating to light emitted from a point source and reflected or refracted from a curved surface.
Causing a burning or stinging sensation.