What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Acid vs Caustic - What's the difference?

acid | caustic |

As adjectives the difference between acid and caustic

is that acid is sour, sharp, or biting to the taste; tart; having the taste of vinegar while caustic is capable of burning, corroding or destroying organic tissue.

As nouns the difference between acid and caustic

is that acid is a sour substance while caustic is any substance or means which, applied to animal or other organic tissue, burns, corrodes, or destroys it by chemical action; an escharotic.

acid

English

(wikipedia acid)

Adjective

(more)
  • Sour, sharp, or biting to the taste; tart; having the taste of vinegar.
  • :
  • (lb) Sour-tempered.
  • *(Anthony Trollope) (1815-1882)
  • *:He was stern and his face as acid as ever.
  • *
  • *:Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy […] distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its savour.
  • Of or pertaining to an acid; acidic.
  • (lb) Denoting a musical genre that is a distortion (as if hallucinogenic) of an existing genre, as in acid house, acid jazz, acid rock.
  • Synonyms

    * acidic

    Antonyms

    * alkaline * base

    Noun

  • A sour substance.
  • (chemistry) Any of several classes of compound having the following properties:-
  • # Any of a class of water-soluble compounds, having sour taste, that turn blue litmus red, and react with some metals to liberate hydrogen, and with bases to form salts.
  • # Any compound that easily donates protons; a
  • # Any compound that can accept a pair of electrons to form a covalent bond; a Lewis acid
  • (slang) lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
  • Antonyms

    * alkali * base

    Hyponyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * acid rain * acid test * acid-base equilibrium * acid-base indicator * acid-fast * acidhead * acid house * acidic * acidify * acidimeter * acidity * acid jazz * acidly * acidophile / acidophilic * acidosis * acidulate * acidulous * acetic acid * acetylsalicylic acid * acid of air * acid of amber * acid of ants * acid of apples * acid of lemon * acid of milk * acid of salt * acid of sugar * acrylic acid * adipic acid * alginic acid * alpha-hydroxy acid * amino acid * arachidic acid * arachidonic acid * arsenic acid * ascorbic acid * aspartic acid * benzoic acid * bile acid * boric acid * bromic acid * butyric acid * capric acid * caproic acid * caprylic acid * carbamic acid * carbolic acid, phenol * carbonic acid * carboxylic acid * cerotic acid * chloric acid * cholic acid * chromic acid * citric acid * conjugate acid * connorstictic acid * consalazinic acid * constictic acid * convirensic acid * crotonic acid * cryptostictic acid * cyanic acid * cyanuric acid * cyclamic acid * deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA * erucic acid * ethanoic acid * fatty acid * folic acid * formic acid * fulminic acid * fumaric acid * fumarprotocetraric acid * galbinic acid * gibberellic acid * gluconic acid * glutamic acid * glyceric acid * glycolic acid * humic acid * hydriodic acid * hydrobromic acid * hydrochloric acid * hydrocyanic acid * hydrofluoric acid * hydrosulphurous acid * hydroxy acid * hypobromous acid * hypochlorous acid * hypofluorous acid * hypohalous acid * hypoiodous acid * hypophosphorous acid * hyposalazinic acid * hypostietic acid * hyposulphurous acid * indoleacetic acid * isobutyric acid * ketipic acid * lactic acid * lauric acid * Lewis acid * linoleic acid * linolenic acid * lysergic acid * maleic acid * malic acid * malonic acid * margaric acid * metaphosphoric acid * methacrylic acid * mucic acid * muriatic acid * myristic acid * nicotinic acid * nitric acid * nitrous acid * norisonotatic acid * norstictic acid * nucleic acid * oleic acid * * * osmic acid * oxaloacetic acid * oxalic acid * palmitic acid * pantothenic acid * pectic acid * pelargonic acid * perchloric acid * periodic acid * permanganic acid * petroselinic acid * phosphoric acid * phosphorous acid * phthalic acid * picric acid * propanoic acid * propionic acid * protocetraric acid * prussic acid * pyrogallic acid * pyrophosphoric acid * pyruvic acid * racemic acid * retinoic acid * ribonucleic acid, RNA * ricinoleic acid * salazinic acid * salicylic acid * sebacic acid * selenic acid * silicic acid * stearic acid * stictic acid * suberic acid * succinic acid * sulphonic acid, sulfonic acid * sulphuric acid, sulfuric acid * sulphurous acid, sulfurous acid * tannic acid * tantalic acid * tartaric acid * telluric acid * thiocyanic acid * thiosulphuric acid, thiosulfuric acid * titanic acid * toluic acid * trans fatty acid * tungstic acid * undecilenic acid * uric acid * usnic acid * valeric acid * vanadic acid * virensic acid

    See also

    * acerbic * acro- * pH

    References

    *

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    caustic

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Capable of burning, corroding or destroying organic tissue.
  • Sharp, bitter, cutting, biting, and sarcastic in a scathing way.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;

    Synonyms

    * (capable of destroying tissue ): acidic, biting, burning, corrosive, searing * (severe, sharp ): bitchy, biting, catty, mordacious, nasty, sarcastic, scathing, sharp, spiteful

    Quotations

    * 1843': "How now!" said Scrooge, '''caustic and cold as ever. — Charles Dickens, ''A Christmas Carol * 1843': The bargain was not concluded as easily as might have been expected though, for Scadder was '''caustic and ill-humoured, and cast much unnecessary opposition in the way — Charles Dickens, ''Martin Chuzzlewit * 1853': Madame Beck esteemed me learned and blue; Miss Fanshawe, '''caustic , ironic, and cynical — Charlotte Bronte, ''Villette * 1857':The Secretary and the Assistant-Secretaries would say little '''caustic things about him to the senior clerks, and seemed somewhat to begrudge him his new honours. — Anthony Trollope, ''The Three Clerks * 1886': this set of worthies, who were only too prone to shut up their emotions with '''caustic words. — Thomas Hardy, ''The Mayor of Casterbridge * 1930s???': though he came too late / To join the martyrs, there was still a place / Among the tempters for a ' caustic tongue / / To test the resolution of the young / With tales of the small failings of the great — W.H.Auden, 'The Quest'

    Derived terms

    * caustic curve * caustic potash * caustic soda * caustic surface

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any substance or means which, applied to animal or other organic tissue, burns, corrodes, or destroys it by chemical action; an escharotic.
  • (optics, computer graphics) The envelope of reflected or refracted rays of light for a given surface or object.
  • (mathematics) The envelope of reflected or refracted rays for a given curve.
  • (informal, chemistry) caustic soda
  • Derived terms

    * lunar caustic