Word.ws English Dictionary

styptic

/ˈstɪptɪk/

styptic adjective: bringing about contraction of tissues; harsh, raw, austere.

Adjective

styptic (comparative more styptic, superlative most styptic)

  1. Bringing about contraction of tissues; harsh, raw, austere.
    • Boyles turns to look over his shoulder, squinting into the styptic sun, and then flags a hand over his head.1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 328
  2. (broadly) That stops bleeding; especially, in a minor way, topically.
    • The growth on top was a scrubby plant, unknown anywhere else on Malta, which was believed to have styptic qualities – it could staunch bleeding when packed on top of a wound […].1973, Nicholas Monsarrat, The Kapillan of Malta
    • But I waited while he dabbed at the cut with styptic powder.1959, Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon

Noun

styptic (plural styptics)

  1. A substance used for styptic results.
    • The powdered gum with resin is used as a styptic; and the mucilage has been recommended as an application to burns.1876, Henry Beasley, The Book of Prescriptions
    • Externally, it is applied as a styptic, and in solution, of various strengths, as an astringent.1889, John Barclay Biddle, Materia Medica and Therapeutics: For Physicians and Students

styptic meaning in Tamil

styptic in Tamil

குருதியுறைப்பான், உறைப்பி

Forms of styptic

Adjective
comparativemore styptic
superlativemost styptic
alternative formstyptick
Noun
pluralstyptics

Origin of styptic

Learned borrowing from Latin stypticus, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek στυπτικός (stuptikós), from στύφω (stúphō, “to contract”).

Words formed from styptic

Phrases with styptic

Words that rhyme with styptic

21 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about styptic

What does styptic mean?
Styptic means bringing about contraction of tissues; harsh, raw, austere.
What is styptic in Tamil?
Styptic in Tamil is குருதியுறைப்பான், உறைப்பி. See Styptic meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is styptic?
Styptic can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce styptic?
Styptic is pronounced /ˈstɪptɪk/.

Words near styptic in the dictionary

  1. styphnates
  2. styphnic
  3. styphnic acid
  4. styplopod
  5. stypsis
  6. styptic
  7. styptic pencil
  8. styptic pencils
  9. styptic tree
  10. styptic trees
  11. styptical

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: styptic (page history and authors); styptic (Tamil Wiktionary) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-styptic.wav.

Cite this entry: “styptic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/styptic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.