Meaning & use
caustic
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparablechemistry
Strong enough to burn, eat away or damage skin, metal or other materials through chemical reaction.
Grammar: Can be used before a noun or after a verb: a caustic cleaner, the liquid is caustic.
Patterns
- caustic to something
Wear gloves, because the drain cleaner is caustic.
The caustic solution slowly ate through the metal lid.
Caustic chemicals must be stored away from children.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Bitterly sharp and cutting in speech or writing, especially when mocking someone with sarcasm.
Grammar: Often describes a person's wit, remarks or tone: a caustic review, a caustic reply.
Patterns
- caustic about something
The critic was caustic about the film's ending.
Her caustic wit kept everyone on their toes.
He answered the question with a caustic smile and a short sentence.
nouncountable or uncountabletechnical
A substance that burns or corrodes, especially sodium hydroxide, used in cleaning and manufacturing.
Grammar: Usually an uncountable mass noun in industry: a bath of caustic.
Patterns
- wash with caustic
Workers rinsed the tanks with caustic before refilling them.
Spilled caustic can cause serious burns.
The plant uses several caustics in its cleaning process.
Word forms
| comparative | more caustic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most caustic |
Common combinations
- caustic soda
- Caustic soda is used to unblock drains.
- caustic remark
- Her caustic remark silenced the meeting.
- caustic wit
- The columnist is famous for his caustic wit.
- caustic comment
- A caustic comment in the review hurt the author.
- caustic chemical
- A caustic chemical spill closed the lab.
Synonyms and how they differ
- corrosive
- Corrosive is mostly literal, for substances that eat away materials, and it rarely describes speech as vividly as caustic does.
- acerbic
- Acerbic describes sharp, bitter speech only, and it never refers to chemicals.
- scathing
- Scathing means fiercely critical, with the sense of an open attack, while caustic implies a sarcastic bite.
- biting
- Biting is plainer and can describe wind or humor, whereas caustic suggests deliberate bitterness.
Opposites
Word family
- caustically adverb
- in a bitter, cutting way
- causticity noun
- the quality of being caustic
- causticness noun
- another word for the quality of being caustic
Commonly confused: caustic or acidic?
caustic vs acidic
Acidic means having the properties of an acid, with a low pH, while caustic describes strong bases and other substances that burn.
Practice
A reviewer writes that a movie's dialogue was 'laughably dull and about as exciting as paint drying'. How would you best describe the review?
Choose one answer.
A sarcastic, bitterly cutting review is caustic. Soothing and cheerful are the opposite tone, and neutral implies no strong opinion.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “caustic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.