as in sarcastic
marked by the use of wit that is intended to cause hurt feelings
caustic movie reviews that serve mainly to show how clever the reviewer is
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Recent Examples of caustic
Some feel that the movie’s slide into sentiment in its final scenes, with a young German barmaid singing a folk song to an inn full of battle-scarred soldiers, doesn’t quite match the caustic nature of the rest of the story.
—
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
The technology replaces harsh, high-temperature caustic bleaching with a gentler low-temperature system that preserves the cotton fiber’s natural wax layer.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 8 Dec. 2025
Noah Baumbach loves to find sympathy in unsympathetic subjects—the awkward title character of Greenberg, the caustic writer played by Nicole Kidman in Margot at the Wedding, the bitter divorced couple of Marriage Story.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 14 Nov. 2025
The endorsement comes as Cuomo has lobbed increasingly caustic attacks on Mamdani, equating his criticism of Israel with antisemitism and warning of a city beset by crime, hatred and disorder if his opponent wins.
—Anthony Izaguirre, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for caustic
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
The technology replaces harsh, high-temperature caustic bleaching with a gentler low-temperature system that preserves the cotton fiber’s natural wax layer.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 8 Dec. 2025
Noah Baumbach loves to find sympathy in unsympathetic subjects—the awkward title character of Greenberg, the caustic writer played by Nicole Kidman in Margot at the Wedding, the bitter divorced couple of Marriage Story.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 14 Nov. 2025
The endorsement comes as Cuomo has lobbed increasingly caustic attacks on Mamdani, equating his criticism of Israel with antisemitism and warning of a city beset by crime, hatred and disorder if his opponent wins.
—Anthony Izaguirre, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for caustic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for caustic
Adjective
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Tom Lester played Eb Dawson, the Douglases' sarcastic young farmhand.—
Meredith Wilshere,
PEOPLE,
25 Jan. 2026
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The worse things are going, the more bitter and sarcastic my humor sometimes gets.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The only thing that may be crazier than the actual football life is this satirical comedy-drama that has more to do with a hedonistic existence than play-action passes.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
6 Feb. 2026
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But it’s set apart from the rest of her work by a long, satirical section sending up gothic fiction and its fans.—
Boris Kachka,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Aluminum foil is heat resistant and can be used to line pans or cover dishes, but isn't nonstick, and may not be safe for acidic food applications.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
9 Feb. 2026
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The acidic content in vinegar breaks down mineral deposits, hard water stains, and buildup and neutralizes odors.—
Maria Sabella,
The Spruce,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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An arrest has been made in an acid attack on a Long Island college student that happened nearly five years ago.—
Alexa Herrera,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
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As wine lovers’ taste in Chardonnay has moved from ripe and buttery to lean and racy, higher-acid, more-flavorful versions have come into vogue.—
Mike DeSimone,
Robb Report,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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These corporations are enabling violence on the streets and death behind barbed wire.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
12 Feb. 2026
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Reams of barbed wire gathered from the fields around Penpont were fashioned into a mesh curtain whose ends wrapped around two columns at the top of the museum’s grand staircase; the result was both alluring and forbidding.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Such links are abhorrent and corrosive to the trust on which the charitable sector depends.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
5 Feb. 2026
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The process begins by collecting raw gas from waste sites and subjecting it to a rigorous desulfurization stage to remove corrosive sulfur compounds.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Caustic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/caustic. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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