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This week's theme: words from chemistry.

caustic (KAW-stik) adjective

1. Capable of burning or corroding.

2. Highly critical; sarcastic.

[From Latin causticus, from Greek kaustikos, from kaustos (combustible), from kaiein, (to burn).]

Caustic soda (Sodium hydroxide) is a highly corrosive substance used in the manufacture of soap, paper, and textiles.

See more usage examples of caustic in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)

"Some were outright sarcastic, others clearly caustic." Vijay Mruthyunjaya; ICC's Hairobics Baffle; Gulf Daily News (Bahrain); Aug 28, 2006.

In the small matters trust the mind, in the large ones the heart. -Sigmund Freud, neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis (1856-1939)

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