scathing vs stinging

scathing

adj
  • Harmful or painful; acerbic. 

  • Harshly or bitterly critical; vitriolic. 

stinging

adj
  • Precise and hurtful. 

  • Having the capacity to sting. 

noun
  • The act by which someone receives a sting. 

How often have the words scathing and stinging occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )