caustic
[kaw-stik]
- capable of burning, corroding, or destroying living tissue.
- severely critical or sarcastic: a caustic remark.
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- a caustic substance.
- Optics.
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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
Synonyms
See more synonyms for caustic on Thesaurus.com2. biting, mordant, bitter, scathing, acid.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for caustically
Contemporary Examples
If he was getting hot around the collar, Ziffer said caustically, it was "partly because I'm one of those hot-headed Levantines."
“Only blue-eyed blondes get any press,” he caustically wrote.
Historical Examples
"'The way is clear enough wi'oot that," from Tammas caustically.
Bob, Son of BattleAlfred Ollivant
"I told you you hadn't swallowed 'em," remarked Matilda, caustically.
Master of the VineyardMyrtle Reed
"The latter at all costs, I presume," said Barbara, caustically.
The Shadow of the CzarJohn R. Carling
"We are not playing at tin politics nowadays," he caustically remarked.
The Secret of the LeagueErnest Bramah
"That is very easy to say, uncle," replied Gonzalo caustically.
The Fourth Estate, vol. 2Armando Palacio Valds
caustic
- 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
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- 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
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Word Origin
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
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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
caustic
(kô′stĭk)- A hydroxide of a light metal.
- A caustic material or substance.
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- 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.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.