caustic means capable of burning, corroding or destroying organic tissue. It carries an Arena rating of 1812, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, caustic ranks #202 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #777 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #1,004 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,847 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
caustic is pronounced /ˈkɔːstɪk/.
Why “caustic” is a great word
Burning or corroding organic tissue by chemical action, or sharply sarcastic and hurtful in tone. From Latin causticus (“burning”), from Ancient Greek καυστικός (kaustikós, “burning”), from καυστός (kaustós, “burnt”) + -ικός (-ikós, adjectival suffix), borrowed into English in the 14th century. Unlike “sarcastic,” which is a weapon wrapped in wit, or “corrosive,” which speaks mainly of physical decay, “caustic” carries the specific, searing heat of intentional harm. It is the white splash of lye on skin, the acid remark that leaves a silence colder than anger, and the precise moment when wit curdles into cruelty—language as a chemical agent, leaving damage that outlasts the conversation itself.
Etymology
From the Latin causticus (“burning”), from Ancient Greek καυστικός (kaustikós, “burning”), from καυστός (kaustós, “burnt”) + -ικός (-ikós).
adj
- Capable of burning, corroding or destroying organic tissue.
- Sharp, bitter, cutting, biting, and sarcastic in a scathing way.e.g.“"How now!" said Scrooge, caustic and cold as ever.” — 1843, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol:
noun
- Any substance or means which, applied to animal or other organic tissue, burns, corrodes, or destroys it by chemical action; an escharotic.
- The envelope of reflected or refracted rays of light for a given surface or object.
- The envelope of reflected or refracted rays for a given curve.
- Caustic soda.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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