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Synonyms

corrosive

American  
[kuh-roh-siv] / kəˈroʊ sɪv /

adjective

  1. having the quality of corroding or eating away; erosive.

  2. harmful or destructive; deleterious.

    the corrosive effect of poverty on their marriage.

  3. sharply sarcastic; caustic.

    corrosive comments on the speaker's integrity.

noun

  1. something corrosive, as an acid or drug.

corrosive British  
/ kəˈrəʊsɪv /

adjective

  1. (esp of acids or alkalis) capable of destroying solid materials

  2. tending to eat away or consume

  3. cutting; sarcastic

    a corrosive remark
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a corrosive substance, such as a strong acid or alkali

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • corrosively adverb
  • corrosiveness noun
  • corrosivity noun
  • noncorrosive adjective
  • noncorrosively adverb
  • noncorrosiveness noun

Etymology

Origin of corrosive

1350–1400; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Medieval Latin corrōsīvus, equivalent to Latin corrōs ( us ) ( corrosion ) + -īvus -ive; replacing Middle English corosif < Middle French < Latin as above

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There are now more than a dozen similar bills winding through statehouses from Olympia, Wash., to Albany, N.Y., as legislators try to rein in a practice the majority of Americans see as dangerous and corrosive.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026

Salt also damages buildings, vehicles and other objects, she said, and presents "a problem for animals. Pet owners notice it on their paws. It's simply corrosive."

From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026

I’ve always felt that engagement is better and more corrosive to a dictatorship than isolating them… Secret police never go hungry, armies never go hungry.

From Salon • Jan. 17, 2026

Many on the other side of the argument would recognise his concern that this debate has become corrosive, but the idea that they will simply give up and accept defeat is fanciful.

From BBC • Dec. 24, 2025

The other war, the bloody one of twenty years, did not cause them as much damage as the corrosive war of eternal postponements.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.