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Caustic

KAW-stik

Definition

  1. (adjective) Capable of burning, corroding, or destroying organic tissue.
  2. Harshly critical or sarcastic.

Example

His caustic wit often left people unsure whether to laugh or take offense.

Fun Fact

The word “caustic” originally comes from the Greek kaustikos, meaning “burning.” While it first described substances that physically burned, it later extended to describe sharp, biting remarks that metaphorically “burn” through conversation. Some of history’s most famous figures, including Winston Churchill and Dorothy Parker, were known for their caustic humor.

Previous Words

Calumny

  • Today's Word
Calumny

Calumny

Calumny


KAL-um-nee

Definition

(noun) The making of false and damaging statements about someone; deliberate defamation of character.

Example

The calumny spread through the firm before anyone thought to check whether a single word of it was true — and by then, the damage was permanent.

Word Origin

Calumny derives from the Latin calumnia, meaning “false accusation” or “trickery,” rooted in calvi — “to trick” or “to deceive.” It entered English in the 15th century through Old French, used in legal and moral contexts to describe the deliberate fabrication of damaging falsehoods about another person. Unlike slander, which can be accidental or careless, calumny implies intent — the calculated deployment of lies as weapons against a specific target.

Fun Fact

Shakespeare was so preoccupied with calumny that it appears as a central destructive force in at least five of his plays. In Othello, Iago’s campaign of calumny against Desdemona destroys two lives without a single true accusation ever being made. In Much Ado About Nothing, a similarly fabricated slander nearly ends in tragedy before the truth emerges. Shakespeare understood something that modern psychology has since confirmed — that false accusations, once circulated, are almost impossible to fully retract. Studies show that corrections rarely travel as far or as fast as the original falsehood, which is why calumny has been one of history’s most effective and most devastating weapons.

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