WordWeb Online

1. Harsh or corrosive in tone
   "caustic jokes about political assassination, talk-show hosts and medical ethics";
   - acerb, acerbic, acid, acrid, bitter, blistering, sulfurous [N. Amer], sulphurous [Brit, Cdn], virulent, vitriolic, acidulous, sulphureous [Brit]
    
2. Of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action
   - corrosive, erosive, vitriolic, mordant

1. Any chemical substance that burns or destroys living tissue
    
2. The envelope of light rays reflected or refracted by a curved surface or object
    
3. (physics) the intersection of reflected or refracted (or more generally lensed) light rays

Derived forms: caustics

See also: destructive, unpleasant

Type of: chemical compound, compound, envelope

Encyclopedia: Caustic