mordant

mor·dant  (môrdnt)

adj.

1.

a. Bitingly sarcastic: mordant satire.

b. Incisive and trenchant: an inquisitor's mordant questioning.

2. Bitingly painful.

3. Serving to fix colors in dyeing.

n.

1. A reagent, such as tannic acid, that fixes dyes to cells, tissues, or textiles or other materials.

2. A corrosive substance, such as an acid, used in etching.

tr.v. mor·dant·ed, mor·dant·ing, mor·dants

To treat with a mordant.

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[French, from Old French, present participle of mordre, to bite, from Vulgar Latin *mordere, from Latin mordre; see mer- in Indo-European roots.]

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mordan·cy n.

mordant·ly adv.

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mordant

Adjective

sarcastic or caustic: mordant wit

Noun

1. a substance used in dyeing to fix colours

2. an acid or other corrosive fluid used to etch lines on a printing plate [Latin mordere to bite]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	mordant - a substance used to treat leather or other materials before dyeing; aids in dyeing process chrome alum - a violet-colored salt used in hide tanning and as a mordant in dyeing antimony potassium tartrate, tartar emetic - a poisonous colorless salt used as a mordant and in medicine coloring material, colour, colouring material, color - any material used for its color; "she used a different color for the trim" sodium bichromate, sodium dichromate - a red-orange salt used as a mordant
Adj.	1.	mordant - harshly ironic or sinister; "black humor"; "a grim joke"; "grim laughter"; "fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit" grim, black sarcastic - expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds
	2.	mordant - of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action corrosive, erosive, vitriolic, caustic destructive - causing destruction or much damage; "a policy that is destructive to the economy"; "destructive criticism"