corrosive

[ kuh-roh-siv ]

/ kəˈroʊ sɪv /

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See synonyms for: corrosive / corrosives / corrosiveness / corrosivity on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having the quality of corroding or eating away; erosive.

harmful or destructive; deleterious: the corrosive effect of poverty on their marriage.

sharply sarcastic; caustic: corrosive comments on the speaker's integrity.

noun

something corrosive, as an acid or drug.

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showing self-respect

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Origin of corrosive

1350–1400; late Middle English (<Middle French ) <Medieval Latin corrōsīvus, equivalent to Latin corrōs(us) (see corrosion) + -īvus-ive; replacing Middle English corosif<Middle French <Latin as above

OTHER WORDS FROM corrosive

cor·ro·sive·ly, adverbcor·ro·sive·ness, cor·ro·siv·i·ty

[kawr-oh-siv-i-tee, kor-], /ˌkɔr oʊˈsɪv ɪ ti, ˌkɒr-/, nounnon·cor·ro·sive, adjectivenon·cor·ro·sive·ly, adverb

non·cor·ro·sive·ness, noun

Words nearby corrosive

corroboration, corroboree, corrode, corrody, corrosion, corrosive, corrosive sublimate, corrugate, corrugated iron, corrugated paper, corrugation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use corrosive in a sentence

Clearly, we need far stronger protections that address the corrosive effects on society of this kind of technology.
Uncontrolled AI Can Endanger People’s Lives. We Must Enforce Stronger Safeguards|Kate Crawford|August 11, 2021|Time
In the US, this attitude has been corrosive to support for government funding of important high-tech industries like chip fabrication, which, as Jeremy Hsu writes, is one reason America is racing to catch up to manufacturers overseas.
The power of us|Michael Reilly|June 30, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Those kinds of antics, those kinds of threats, they’re really corrosive.
Companies Condemn Georgia's Restrictive Voting Law Amid Pressure Campaign From Advocates|Madeleine Carlisle|April 2, 2021|TIme
We need to worry about Q because the long-term effect is corrosive to democratic values.
QAnon Has Become The Cult That Cries Wolf|Kaleigh Rogers|March 26, 2021|FiveThirtyEight

Concerns over privacy and the corrosive effects of social media on politics have made it beneficial for politicians around the world to go after Big Tech.
Australia wants Facebook and Google to pay for news on their sites. Other countries think it’s a good idea too|Gerrit De Vynck|February 19, 2021|Washington Post
Such was the corrosive paranoia of the time, fueled by McCarthy and abetted by Hoover.
I Saw Nuclear Armageddon Sitting on My Desk|Clive Irving|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The road salt makes a mushy, corrosive paste that is flung universally about the under-and over-sides of every vehicle.
Book Bag: Beguiling if Unlikely Travel Books|Sean Wilsey|September 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But there is also something potentially more corrosive happening.
Lupita Nyong’o’s ‘Acceptable Blackness’ and the Myth of a Post-Racial Hollywood|Rawiya Kameir|May 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Mr. President, you can speak out and help us confront this corrosive element, but time is running out.
Dear Obama, the Time for Presidential Leadership on Race Is Now|Ron Christie|April 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This, surely, has had a corrosive effect on Tejpal and his self-image.
The Fall of India’s Conscience|Tunku Varadarajan|November 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They exert a caustic or corrosive action on animal and vegetable substances.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley
Number Three was insulated against a frigid but relatively non-corrosive atmosphere.
Unwise Child|Gordon Randall Garrett
It dissolves mercury, and with it forms corrosive sublimate.
Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry|Joseph Priestley
Many corrosive preparations are recommended for the cure of this disease, but I have decided objections to one and all of them.
A Treatise on Sheep:|Ambrose Blacklock
This liquor is very corrosive, and tinges animal substances of a blackish brown colour.
Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry|Joseph Priestley

British Dictionary definitions for corrosive

corrosive

/ (kəˈrəʊsɪv) /

adjective

(esp of acids or alkalis) capable of destroying solid materials

tending to eat away or consume

cutting; sarcastica corrosive remark

noun

a corrosive substance, such as a strong acid or alkali

Derived forms of corrosive

corrosively, adverbcorrosiveness, noun

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

Medical definitions for corrosive

corrosive

[ kə-rō′sĭv ]

adj.

Causing or tending to cause the gradual destruction of a substance by chemical action.

A substance having the capability or tendency to cause slow destruction.

corrosive

Origin of corrosive

OTHER WORDS FROM corrosive

Words nearby corrosive

Words related to corrosive

How to use corrosive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for corrosive

Derived forms of corrosive

Medical definitions for corrosive