astringent

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

From Latin adstringere (“to bind fast”), from ad (“toward”) + stringere (“bind, pull tight”). Compare stringent.

Miss Sonntag greeted him with an astringent “How d’you do, Mr. Babbitt. — Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis
The persimmon is a delicious fruit, after the frost has destroyed its astringent properties. — A New Guide for Emigrants to the West, John Mason Peck
Of how much it needed the tonic properties of that astringent pen it was of course unaware. — The Enchanted April, Elizabeth Von Arnim

astringent drug, styptic

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