caustic.

1. Capable of chemically eating away or damaging tissue or another material.

2. Bitingly critical or sarcastic in speech or writing.

3. A curve or surface where reflected or refracted light gathers, often producing a bright pattern.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• caustic solution
• caustic chemical

On the page

A caustic solution had eaten through the outer seal.

She set the caustic chemical beyond the reach of the visitors.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more caustic; superlative most caustic where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.