vitriolic
vit-ree-OL-ikadjMeaning bitterly harsh and cruel in speech or writing
Memory hook VITRIOL = acid: words that BURN. The angry letter is so bitter that it seems to smoke on the page, like acid eating through paper: it is vitriolic.
The vitriolic review hurt the young author’s feelings for weeks.
In context The once-friendly letters between the two inventors turned vitriolic; each accused the other of stealing ideas and used the harshest words he could find.
Similar bitter, venomous, caustic, scathing
Opposite kind, gentle, mild
From vitriol, an old name for a burning acid, from Latin vitrum (glass), because some of its crystals look like glass.