caustic

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈkɔːstɪk/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈkɔstɪk/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(kôstik)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
caus•tic /ˈkɔstɪk/USA pronunciation   adj. 
  1. capable of burning, corroding, or destroying living tissue:Acid is caustic.
  2. severely critical or sarcastic: caustic remarks.
caus•ti•cal•ly, adv. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
caus•tic  (kôstik),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. capable of burning, corroding, or destroying living tissue.
  2. severely critical or sarcastic:a caustic remark.

n. 
  1. a caustic substance.
  2. Optics
    • See caustic curve. 
    • See caustic surface. 
  • Greek kaustikós burning, caustic, equivalent. to kaust(ós) burnt (verb, verbal adjective, adjectival of kaíein to burn) + -ikos -ic
  • Latin causticus
  • 1350–1400; Middle English
causti•cal•ly, caustic•ly, adv. 
caus•tic•i•ty  (kô stisi tē),USA pronunciation caustic•ness, n. 
    • 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged biting, mordant, bitter, scathing, acid.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
caustic / ˈkɔːstɪk/
  1. capable of burning or corroding by chemical action: caustic soda
  2. sarcastic; cutting: a caustic reply
  1. Also called: caustic surface a surface that envelops the light rays reflected or refracted by a curved surface
  2. Also called: caustic curve a curve formed by the intersection of a caustic surface with a plane
  3. a caustic substance, esp an alkali
Etymology: 14th Century: from Latin causticus, from Greek kaustikos, from kaiein to burnˈcausticallycausticity / kɔːˈstɪsɪtɪ/, ˈcausticness
'caustic' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

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