[
US
/ˌvɪtɹiˈɑɫɪk/
]
[ UK /vˌɪtɹɪˈɒlɪk/ ]
[ UK /vˌɪtɹɪˈɒlɪk/ ]
ADJECTIVE
-
harsh or corrosive in tone
bitter words
an acerbic tone piercing otherwise flowery prose
caustic jokes about political assassination, talk-show hosts and medical ethics
blistering criticism
a sulfurous denunciation
her acrid remarks make her many enemies
a vitriolic critique
a barrage of acid comments - of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action
How To Use vitriolic In A Sentence
- Racism, homophobia, McCarthyism, classism, it's all on display as they try to muzzle those who disagree by vitriolic, personal attack.
- In its place is a new rhetoric, an incendiary rhetoric, a rhetoric of vitriolic accusation.
- The backlash is beginning: you can see it in the graffiti, and vitriolic comments on local online forums. Times, Sunday Times
- The intensity of the raw, vitriolic malice in the sibilant voice was beyond anything in even his fevered, psychotic dreams.
- You must also listen closely for the vitriolic jewels that emerge from behind the gold-capped smiles.
- A riveting revival, acted with vitriolic power. Times, Sunday Times
- Some of the more vitriolic regime propagandists, such as pouty anchorwoman Hala Misrati, were tracked down and jailed after Tripoli's fall, alongside thousands of other suspected Gadhafi loyalists. In Tripoli Blacklist, Fears of Purge to Come
- Calculate according to the experiment please the vitriolic solute quality mark in this sewage.
- As one grain of turpeth mineral (vitriolic calx of mercury) mixed with ten grains of fine sugar. Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life
- In recent days, each side has been describing the other in increasingly vitriolic terms, bandying around words such as "disingenuous" and "lying" in private. Phone hacking: two News of the World journalists arrested
