Causticity
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The quality of being physically caustic; burning, corrosive. countable, uncountable
"Causticity is that sharp and corroding quality, which many substances possess, such as the mineral acids, especially when concentrated, alkalies fixed and volatile, quicklime, arsenic, corrosive sublimate, lunar crystals, butter of antimony, and even most other salts with metallic bases."
- 2 Being caustic in speech, humour etc. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"[…] one in whom a discreet causticity went along with a manner less genial than polite […]"
Example
More examples"Causticity is that sharp and corroding quality, which many substances possess, such as the mineral acids, especially when concentrated, alkalies fixed and volatile, quicklime, arsenic, corrosive sublimate, lunar crystals, butter of antimony, and even most other salts with metallic bases."
Etymology
From caustic + -ity.
More for "causticity"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.