Laxative

//ˈlæk.sə.tɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any substance, such as a food or in the form of a medicine which has a laxative effect.

    "According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, the US is having a love affair with laxatives; Americans of all ages are ingesting so much of the stuff that there are now shortages nationwide."

  2. 2
    a mild cathartic wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Having the effect of moving the bowels, or aiding digestion and preventing constipation.

    "BOlvs in Engliſh is called a morſell. It is a medicine laxatiue, in forme & faſhion it is meanely whole, & it is ſwallowed by litle gobbets."

Adjective
  1. 1
    stimulating evacuation of feces wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
aperientcatharticdiureticpurgativeagaraloes

Example

More examples

"Your grandfather is looking for his laxative."

Etymology

From Middle French laxatif, from Latin laxātīvus (literally “relaxing, loosening”).

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