scathing

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of scathe

adj

1. Harshly or bitterly critical; vitriolic.

   “For months, Dati warned she would refuse to stand aside. Now she has stunned the political class with an open letter to Fillon in Le Monde, a scathing character assassination accusing him of the "lone ambition" of a disillusioned political elite, of doing politics in a way that "never favoured women" and stopping ethnic-minority candidates from progressing at elections. She said he was committing "a sad mistake" in trying to run in Paris.”

2. Harmful or painful; acerbic.