What does "bacteriostatic" mean?

An agent (drug or other substance) that is bacteriostatic.

What is a synonym for "bacteriostatic"?

Common synonyms include: antacid, antibiotic.

Bacteriostatic

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
An agent (drug or other substance) that is bacteriostatic.

Adjective

1
Of or relating to bacteriostasis or a bacteriostat; inhibiting the growth of bacteria without destroying them.
"All these compounds were bacteriostatic, affecting the bacterial metabolism and preventing its multiplication in the host, thereby permitting natural body defences to succeed against the invader."

Adjective

1
of or relating to or causing bacteriostasis wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

antacid antibiotic

Example

More examples

"All these compounds were bacteriostatic, affecting the bacterial metabolism and preventing its multiplication in the host, thereby permitting natural body defences to succeed against the invader."

Etymology

From bacterio- + -static.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.