Vitriolise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To treat a substance with sulphuric acid, commonly known as oil of vitriol ; to pour scathing, bitter abuse onto someone in speech or writing
2. To douse something in the corrosive acid called vitriol ; to lash out at a person with harsh, venomous condemnation
3. To subject material to the strong acid known as vitriol ; to assail someone with spiteful and acrimonious language

Etymology: Vitriol began as a substance before it became a figure of speech. Medieval alchemists and chemists used the word for a family of glassy, colored minerals, and the name is tied to the Latin "vitrum," meaning glass. The best-known of these, sulfuric acid, was so corrosive that its name came to carry the sense of bitter, caustic language, and "vitriolise" follows the same path: it takes the noun and makes it a verb. The suffix "-ise" is the common English verb-forming ending, borrowed through French from Greek "-izein," and it turns a noun into an action. So "vitriolise" literally means to treat something with vitriol, whether that means dousing it in the acid or, by extension, attacking it with harsh, scathing words. The verb is built on the noun in plain English fashion, with no separate history of its own.

Synonyms: vitriolize, lambaste, castigate

Antonyms: praise, compliment