costiveness

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UK/ˈkɒstɪvnəs/

noun

The state or quality of being costive; constipation.

Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nouncostiveness (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe state or quality of being costive; constipation.

    The new cases prove that in habitual costiveness or inactivity of the bowels, galvanism is a more valuable remedy, and that its effects are permanent .

    January 1822, Richard Reece [editor] "Letters of a Royal Physician, on Indigestion &c. &c.", in The Monthly Gazette of Health Volume 7
  2. obsoleteuncountableInability to express oneself; stiffness.

    a reverend disputant of the same coftiveness in public elocution with myself

    1792, Gilbert Wakefield, Memoirs of the Life of Gilbert Wakefield

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
constipation

Origin

From costive + -ness.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

costiveness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/costiveness

MLA

“costiveness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/costiveness. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “costiveness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/costiveness.

Source: costiveness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.