Word.ws English Dictionary

diethylstilbesterol

diethylstilbesterol is the alternative form of diethylstilbestrol.

Meaning of diethylstilbestrol

Noun

diethylstilbestrol (countable and uncountable, plural diethylstilbestrols, abbreviation DES)

  1. A synthetic estrogen drug C₁₈H₂₀O₂ used formerly to prevent miscarriage or premature delivery in humans and to promote growth in livestock. The medical use of diethystilbestrol was discontinued in the U.S. during the early 1970s due to its association with serious side effects (such as reproductive tract abnormalities and increased rates of infertility) in offspring exposed to the drug while developing in the uterus. It is no longer commercially available in the U.S. and its use is currently limited to specially compounded formulations for veterinary care.
    • In 1971, yet another such study identified an even more unusual carcinogen, a synthetic hormonal medicine called diethylstilbestrol.2010, Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies, Fourth Estate (2011), page 277
    Synonyms:
    stilbestrol

Questions about diethylstilbesterol

What is diethylstilbesterol the alternative form of?
Diethylstilbesterol is the alternative form of diethylstilbestrol.

Words near diethylstilbesterol in the dictionary

  1. diethylnitrosamine
  2. diethylphosphite
  3. diethylpropion
  4. diethylpyrocarbonate
  5. diethyls
  6. diethylstilbesterol
  7. diethylstilbestrol
  8. diethylstilbestrols
  9. diethylstilboestrol
  10. diethylthiambutene
  11. diethylthioxanthone

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: diethylstilbesterol (page history and authors); diethylstilbestrol (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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