Caustic

Pronunciation

• enPR: kôs'tÄ­k, IPA: /ˈkɔːstɪk/, /ˈkÉ’stɪk/
• Rhymes: -ɔːstɪk

Origin

From the Greek καυστός (kaustos, "burnt"), via the Latin causticus ("burning").

Full definition of caustic

Adjective

1. Capable of burning, corroding or destroying organic tissue.
2. (of language etc.) Sharp, bitter, cutting, biting, sarcastic.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 8, The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;.... Our table in the dining-room became again the abode of scintillating wit and caustic repartee, Farrar bracing up to his old standard, and the demand for seats in the vicinity rose to an animated competition.

Synonyms

• (capable of destroying tissue): acidic, biting, burning, corrosive, searing
• (severe, sharp): bitchy, biting, catty, mordacious, nasty, sharp, spiteful

Derived terms

• caustic curve
• caustic potash
• caustic soda
• caustic surface

Noun

1. Any substance or means which, applied to animal or other organic tissue, burns, corrodes, or destroys it by chemical action; an escharotic.
2. (optics, computer graphics) The envelope of reflected or refracted rays of light for a given surface or object.
3. (mathematics) The envelope of reflected or refracted rays for a given curve.
4. (informal, chemistry) caustic soda

Derived terms

• lunar caustic