Usage patterns 毒どく 舌ぜつ を 吐は く to make a cutting/biting remark
He always makes sharp, biting remarks to his friends.
〈 人ひと 〉 に 毒どく 舌ぜつ を 浴あ びせる to shower someone with biting remarks
The host hurled biting remarks at the guests.
毒どく 舌ぜつ が 冴さ える to be at one's sharpest with cutting remarks
Her sharp tongue was as cutting as ever today.
Related words· 6 悪口 is any bad-mouthing or insulting remark, while 毒舌 specifically describes a sharp, caustic style of speech, often as a personality trait.
皮肉 is irony or sarcasm that is often indirect, while 毒舌 is a more direct, biting way of speaking.
罵倒 is loud, violent verbal abuse aimed at humiliating someone, whereas 毒舌 is a wittier, more calculated sharp-tongued remark.
辛辣 is an adjective meaning scathing or harsh (of words, criticism, or writing), while 毒舌 is a noun naming the trait or speech act of being sharp-tongued.
Show 2 more Show fewer 毒舌 is a noun for biting, sarcastic remarks (often used as 毒舌家 or 毒舌な ), while 口が悪い is an expression describing a person's habitually harsh way of speaking.
毒舌 is the full word for sharp, sarcastic speech, while 毒 alone is only an elliptical stand-in for it in casual contexts.
Etymology Compound of 毒 (poison) and 舌 (tongue), literally 'poison tongue'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word has been used since at least the Edo period to describe a biting or venomous way of speaking.
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