Meanings
plural surfactants
- chemistryA surface-active agent, or wetting agent, capable of reducing the surface tension of a liquid; typically organic compounds having a hydrophilic “head” and a hydrophobic “tail”.
Dr. Khorana added that this is especially true of cleansers that feature surfactants like sodium lauryl sulfate, as this class of ingredients can cause “dryness, irritation and eczema.”
2023 December 6, Jessica DeFino, “Too Many Products Can Stress Out Your Skin. Here’s How to Scale Back.”, in The New York TimesSynonyms: tenside
- biochemistryA lipoprotein in the tissues of the lung that reduces surface tension and permits more efficient gas transport.
It is conceivable that impairment of surfactant proteins is due to rheological and immunodefensive disorders of testis and epididymis or prostate.
2015 November 25, “Expression and Localization of Lung Surfactant Proteins in Human Testis”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA surface-active agent, or wetting agent, capable of reducing the surface tension of a liquid; typically organic compounds having a hydrophilic “head” and a hydrophobic “tail”.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna chemical agent capable of reducing the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic عَامِل سَطْحِيّ
- عَامِل سَطْحِيّ (ʕāmil saṭḥiyy)surface active agent
Bulgarian повърхностно-акти́вно вещество́
- повърхностно-акти́вно вещество́ (povărhnostno-aktívno veštestvó)surface active agent
Chinese Mandarin 表面活性劑 /表面活性剂, 界面活性劑 /界面活性剂
- 表面活性劑 /表面活性剂 (biǎomiàn huóxìngjì)surface active agent
- 界面活性劑 /界面活性剂 (jièmiàn huóxìngjì)surface active agent
Czech tenzid, surfaktant
- tenzidsurface active agent
- surfaktantsurface active agent
Finnish tensidi, pinta-aktiivinen aine
- tensidisurface active agent
- pinta-aktiivinen ainesurface active agent
- surfaktanttisurface active agent
- surfaktanttilipoprotein that facilitates gas transport in the lungs
French tensioactif, mouillant
- tensioactifsurface active agent
- mouillantsurface active agent
- surfactantsurface active agent
- surfactifsurface active agent
German Tensid, Netzmittel
- Tensidsurface active agent
- Netzmittelsurface active agent
- Benetzungsmittelsurface active agent
- Dispergiermittelsurface active agent
- Detergenssurface active agent
- grenzflächenaktiver Stoffsurface active agent
Italian tensioattivo, surfattante
- tensioattivosurface active agent
- surfattantesurface active agent
- surfactantesurface active agent
Japanese 界面活性剤, 肺表面活性物質
- 界面活性剤 (kaimen-kasseizai)surface active agent
- 肺表面活性物質 (hai-hyōmen-kassei-busshitsu)lipoprotein that facilitates gas transport in the lungs
Korean 계면활성제
- 계면활성제 (gyemyeonhwalseongje)surface active agent
Persian ماده فعال سطحی
- ماده فعال سطحیsurface active agent
Polish surfaktant, surfaktant
- surfaktantsurface active agent
- surfaktantlipoprotein that facilitates gas transport in the lungs
Portuguese surfactante, tensioativo
- surfactantesurface active agent
- tensioativosurface active agent
- tensoativosurface active agent
Russian пове́рхностно-акти́вное вещество́
- пове́рхностно-акти́вное вещество́ (povérxnostno-aktívnoje veščestvó)surface active agent
Spanish surfactante, tensoactivo
- surfactantesurface active agent
- tensoactivosurface active agent
- tensioactivosurface active agent
Swedish tensid, surfaktant
- tensidsurface active agent
- surfaktantsurface active agent
- surfaktantlipoprotein that facilitates gas transport in the lungs
Thai สารลดแรงตึงผิว
- สารลดแรงตึงผิว (sǎan-lót-rɛɛng-dtʉng-pǐu)surface active agent
Turkish sürfektan, sürfektan
- sürfektansurface active agent
- sürfektanlipoprotein that facilitates gas transport in the lungs
Vietnamese chất hoạt động bề mặt
- chất hoạt động bề mặtsurface active agent
Cite this entry
surfactant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surfactant
“surfactant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surfactant. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “surfactant,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surfactant.
Source: surfactant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.