corrosive
Americanadjective
-
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
adjective
-
(esp of acids or alkalis) capable of destroying solid materials
-
tending to eat away or consume
-
cutting; sarcastic
a corrosive remark
noun
Other Word Forms
- corrosively adverb
- corrosiveness noun
- corrosivity noun
- noncorrosive adjective
- noncorrosively adverb
- noncorrosiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of corrosive
1350–1400; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Medieval Latin corrōsīvus, equivalent to Latin corrōs ( us ) ( corrosion ) + -īvus -ive; replacing Middle English corosif < Middle French < Latin as above
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While German municipalities used to allow citizens to sprinkle salt on frozen walkways, this was banned years ago, in favour of just gravel, as the corrosive salt is known to attack the roots of trees.
From Barron's
I’ve always felt that engagement is better and more corrosive to a dictatorship than isolating them… Secret police never go hungry, armies never go hungry.
From Salon
A connoisseur of Western literature, the supreme leader has a pretty good grasp of how alluring and corrosive Occidental ideas and manners can be.
The glitchy Permian plumbing is forcing producers to drill through zones of high pressure, fortify their wells with additional strings of casing, and use protective coating against corrosive saltwater.
Many on the other side of the argument would recognise his concern that this debate has become corrosive, but the idea that they will simply give up and accept defeat is fanciful.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
