corrosive

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a substance having the tendency to cause corrosion (such a strong acids or alkali)
adjective of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action
adjective spitefully sarcastic

From Old French corrosif.

Which to extirpe, he laid him privily Downe in a darkesome lowly place farre in, Whereas he meant his corrosives to apply, And with streight diet tame his stubborne malady. — Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Book I, Edmund Spenser
This priest I was able to find, and though he proved a very argumentative fellow, who took it absurdly amiss that I should point out to him the corrosive effect which modern science must have upon his beliefs, he none the less gave me some positive information. — The Lost World, Arthur Conan Doyle
Then he laughed frightfully, and suddenly became pale again, when he considered the most sinister side of his fatal passion, of that corrosive, venomous malignant, implacable love, which had ended only in the gibbet for one of them and in hell for the other; condemnation for her, damnation for him. — Notre-Dame de Paris, Victor Hugo

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