What's the difference between caustic and scathing?

Caustic


Definition:

  • (a.) Alt. of Caustical
  • (a.) Any substance or means which, applied to animal or other organic tissue, burns, corrodes, or destroys it by chemical action; an escharotic.
  • (a.) A caustic curve or caustic surface.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) According to the report filed by the New York state department of financial services (NYSDFS), when warned by a US colleague about dealings with Iran, a Standard Chartered executive caustically replied: "You f---ing Americans.
  • (2) He had severe standards and was caustic about people in public life and the way things were run.
  • (3) Fatale haemoptysis occurred as a result of circumferential caustic erosion to the right intermediate bronchus caused by a tablet of ferrous sulphate which remained in contact for 4 days.
  • (4) Four cases of combined hypopharyngeal and cervical esophageal stricture secondary to caustic ingestion are presented.
  • (5) Initial endoscopic examination showed moderate caustic esophagitis in all patients, and esophageal atony and poor distension were early roentgenographic observations.
  • (6) The stigma of having no brothers or sisters meant that any acting up was immediately dismissed with a caustic, “Well, he is an only child.” The subtext was that my parents had doted on me excessively, inflating my sense of importance.
  • (7) The caustic property of silver nitrate prompted a double-blind, controlled study of a possible causal relationship between use of the agent for prophylaxis against ophthalmic infection in the newborn and the subsequent development of nasolacrimal duct obstruction.
  • (8) The effects of accidental ingestion of a caustic detergent are studied in the report of 14 patients seen in the Hennepin County Medical Center.
  • (9) The success of conservative treatment has been higher in patients younger than 8 years of age, and in strictures due to caustics other than lye involving upper third portion and less than five cm of an esophageal segment.
  • (10) Despite the sometimes self-deprecating shtick – in sharp contrast to Putin's self-mythologising antics – there remains disquiet about what Navalny really represents, behind the caustic put-downs and cool persona.
  • (11) Caustic ingestion in adults must be viewed as a problem different from that of accidental ingestion in children.
  • (12) Exposure to caustic agents is a common problem, affecting thousands of individuals annually.
  • (13) This result counters the theory that a caustic response is a prerequisite for successful therapy.
  • (14) With both kinds of caustic agents the decrease of acid phosphatase activity was more striking than that of the alkaline phosphatase.
  • (15) Even so, Iain Macleod and Enoch Powell refused invitations to join the new government and Macleod published in the Spectator a caustic account of all the skullduggery.
  • (16) L'eau de Javel (bleaching agent with sodium hypochloride) was the most frequently encountered caustic substance (89%).
  • (17) The indication for esophageal replacement was atresia in 92 children and intractable stricture (peptic, caustic, or congenital) in 20.
  • (18) In order to examine the injuries and functional abnormalities of these sites following caustic ingestion, the records of The Johns Hopkins Swallowing Center were reviewed.
  • (19) Afterwards, in a sign that she has not yet lost her caustic side, Sobchak wrote in her Tatler column: "Bozhena equally suffers for the fate of her motherland as for the fate of her fur coats."
  • (20) Roy Keane’s most outspoken attack on Sir Alex Ferguson branched out into caustic criticisms of José Mourinho as he branded the Chelsea’s manager conduct “disgraceful” and explained why he refused to shake his hand towards the end of Aston Villa’s recent match at Stamford Bridge .

Scathing


Definition:

  • (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Scath

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Bill Gates betrayed his ailing business partner and tried to deprive him of his share of the Microsoft fortune, according to a scathing memoir from Paul Allen , the company's billionaire co-founder.
  • (2) Abramovich, as you might expect, is now scathing about Berezovsky.
  • (3) Those sorts of failures and might-have-beens have pockmarked Kerry’s record, and the rebukes he has faced have at times been scathing.
  • (4) Myners – a non-executive director of Co-op group – was also scathing in his assessment of the board members after asking them a simple retail question and likening their inability to answer to that of Paul Flowers, former chairman of the Co-op bank, who had stumbled over basic questions posed by the Treasury select committee last year.
  • (5) ( more from Dean Baker here ) Other critics of austerity were equally scathing (Paul Krugman posted once , then twice ) .
  • (6) Her attacks on the president are scathing and she sees him as a busted flush, placing herself at the heart of drives to rebuild the French right after Sarkozy "implodes" at the election.
  • (7) Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, was scathing about the EU package for Greece over three years agreed last weekend by 15 eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund: "Markets have judged those arrangements to be inadequate," he said .
  • (8) An NHS trust's lack of honesty caused "unnecessary pain and further distress" to a family who had already suffered from the tragic and avoidable death of a baby boy, the health service ombudsman has said in the latest scathing verdict on the defensive culture within the health service.
  • (9) What the president thinks is it’s quite clear that new leadership with a set of skills and experiences that are unique to the challenges that OPM faces are urgently needed.” Republicans were scathing in their response to the scandal.
  • (10) Wong says he has been shocked by its silence at critical moments and is scathing overall: “It just focuses on trade deals.” And that, perhaps, is the subtext of the new documentary’s title.
  • (11) In a scathing assessment, the CQC reported it had found: “a culture of bullying and harassment” that “morale was low” and that “the decision in 2013 to remove 220 posts across the trust and down band several hundred more nursing staff has had a significant impact on morale and has stretched staffing levels in many areas” that “staffing was a key challenge across all services” poor implementation of a new IT system “had impacted on patient safety and care” and “patients were struggling to get appointments and be recognised as needing care and treatment” in A&E “there were delays in patients being assessed and in handovers taking place for patients who arrived by ambulance” and some patients were seen by the CQC to have received what it called “sub-optimal care”.
  • (12) Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the committee, was scathing about the size of the payoff.
  • (13) He also attempted to calm the waters after scathing reports about the Downing Street dinner with May that he and the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker , attended last week.
  • (14) Today staff who worked on the ill-fated magazine were scathing about Lebedev, who became the first Russian (and ex-KGB spy) to own a UK title when he bought a controlling stake in the Evening Standard in January.
  • (15) While focusing criticism on a few members of the regiment – particularly Corporal Donald Payne, Lieutenant Craig Rodgers and Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Mendonca – the report also passes scathing comment on the role of the unit's regimental medical officer, Dr Derek Keilloh, and its padre, Father Peter Madden.
  • (16) Mark Rock, the founder and chief executive of sound-sharing application Audioboo , was scathing about the industry's moves towards digital switchover and the decision to base principally around DAB radio.
  • (17) It is particularly scathing about the practice of some officials personally targeting political opponents including successive home secretaries, the Tory former chief whip Andrew Mitchell , and Tom Winsor, who produced the official report proposing significant police reforms.
  • (18) Russia’s nuclear sabre-rattling is unjustified, destabilising and dangerous Jens Stoltenberg In blunt language, the Nato chief delivered a scathing critique of Russia’s behaviour over the past year – including Moscow’s armed intervention in Ukraine – and vowed the transatlantic alliance would redouble its commitment to “collective defence”.
  • (19) As a consequence, he's the go-to guy for a scathing quote on dissembling theologies and their gullible believers.
  • (20) A scathing report by the Department of Justice last week concluded that Ferguson’s police and court system was blighted by racial bias .