caustic
UK/ˈkɔːstɪk/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈkoːstɪk/
caustic adjective: capable of burning, corroding or destroying organic tissue.
Adjective
caustic (comparative more caustic, superlative most caustic)
- Capable of burning, corroding or destroying organic tissue.
- Sharp, bitter, cutting, biting, and sarcastic in a scathing way.
- "How now!" said Scrooge, caustic and cold as ever.1843, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
- The bargain was not concluded as easily as might have been expected though, for Scadder was caustic and ill-humoured, and cast much unnecessary opposition in the way1843, Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit
Noun
caustic (countable and uncountable, plural caustics)
- Any substance or means which, applied to animal or other organic tissue, burns, corrodes, or destroys it by chemical action; an escharotic.
- The association of the heavenly bodies with known metals and also with human organs and destinies goes back to ancient Chaldea, the land of astrologers. In Chaucer’s words: ‘The seven bodies eek, lo hear anon. Sol gold is, and Luna silver we declare; Mars yron, Mercurie is quyksilver; Saturnian...2013, John Read, From Alchemy to Chemistry
- 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.
caustic meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
caustic in Hindi
- कास्टिक, कौस्टिक
caustic in Tamil
- கடுமையான, குத்தலான, வெறுப்பூட்டுகின்ற, எரிப்புள்ள, எரிநிலைக்குரிய, காரமாய்
caustic in Marathi
- कास्टिक, कास्टीक, कॉस्टिक
caustic in Urdu
- کھارا, تیز
More languagesFewer languages
- caustic in Bengali
- ক্ষয়কারী, তীব্র ব্যঙ্গাত্মক
- caustic in Telugu
- కాస్టిక్
- caustic in Malayalam
- മനസ്സിനെ വേദനിപ്പിക്കുന്ന, അതിരൂക്ഷമായ, പൊള്ളുന്ന
- caustic in Kannada
- ಸೊಡ, ಕೊರೆವ, ಕಟುವಾದ, ಮರ್ಮಭೇದಕವಾದ
- caustic in Punjabi
- ਕਾਸਟਿਕ, ਕੌਸਟਿਕ, ਕੌਸਟੀਕ
- caustic in Gujarati
- કાસ્ટિક, કોસ્ટિક, કાસ્ટીક
- caustic in Odia
- କଷ୍ଟିକ୍, କାଷ୍ଟିକ୍, କାଷ୍ଟିକ
- caustic in Nepali
- कास्टिक, कस्टिक
Examples of caustic in a sentence
- Madame Beck esteemed me learned and blue; Miss Fanshawe, caustic, ironic, and cynical1853, Charlotte Brontë, Villette:
- The Secretary and the Assistant-Secretaries would say little caustic things about him to the senior clerks, and seemed somewhat to begrudge him his new honours.1857, Anthony Trollope, The Three Clerks:
- this set of worthies, who were only too prone to shut up their emotions with caustic words.1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge:
- though he came too late / To join the martyrs, there was still a place / Among the tempters for a caustic tongue / / To test the resolution of the young / With tales of the small failings of the greatc. 1930, W.H.Auden, The Quest:
Synonyms of caustic
Forms of caustic
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more caustic |
| superlative | most caustic |
| Noun | |
| plural | caustics |
Origin of caustic
From the Latin causticus (“burning”), from Ancient Greek καυστικός (kaustikós, “burning”), from καυστός (kaustós, “burnt”) + -ικός (-ikós).
Words formed from caustic
- catacaustic
- caustic alkali
- caustically
- caustic ammonia
- caustic barley
- caustic curve
- causticise
- causticism
- causticity
- causticize
- caustic lime
- caustic marine alkali
- causticness
- caustic pencil
- caustic potash
- caustic soda
- caustic sulphite caramel
- caustic surface
- caustic volatile alkali
- caustic wood alkali
- caustification
- diacaustic
- galvanocaustic
- Indian caustic barley
- noncaustic
- postcaustic
- common caustic
- lunar caustic
Phrases with caustic
Words that rhyme with caustic
Questions about caustic
- What does caustic mean?
- Caustic means capable of burning, corroding or destroying organic tissue.
- What is caustic in Hindi?
- Caustic in Hindi is कास्टिक, कौस्टिक. See Caustic meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use caustic in a sentence?
- Madame Beck esteemed me learned and blue; Miss Fanshawe, caustic, ironic, and cynical
- What part of speech is caustic?
- Caustic can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce caustic?
- Caustic is pronounced /ˈkɔːstɪk/ (UK).
Words near caustic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: caustic (page history and authors); caustic (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caustic (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); caustic (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caustic (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); caustic (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); caustic (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caustic (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); caustic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); caustic (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caustic (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caustic (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caustic (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-caustic.ogg.
Cite this entry: “caustic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/caustic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.