antiseptic
Americanadjective
-
pertaining to or affecting antisepsis.
-
free from or cleaned of germs and other microorganisms.
-
exceptionally clean or neat.
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free of contamination or pollution.
noun
adjective
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of, relating to, or effecting antisepsis
-
entirely free from contamination
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informal lacking spirit or excitement; clinical
noun
Other Word Forms
- antiseptically adverb
Etymology
Origin of antiseptic
Explanation
If you are out to kill some microorganisms, an antiseptic will come in handy! If you go to a hospital for a cut on your arm, the nurse will apply an antiseptic to the wound because it will kill any bacteria, while not harming your healthy skin. Antiseptic is also an adjective that describes the state of being clean and without disease-causing bacteria: "The antiseptic wash the nurse splashed over your arm was bright blue and smelled funny, but it kept your wound free of infection." Antiseptic can also describe something that is clean in a different way — as in, free of any objectionable language. A comedian's jokes could be so antiseptic that even your grandmother would like them.
Vocabulary lists containing antiseptic
Power Prefix: Anti
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Esperanza Rising
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Amid the rebuke, brands have recoiled back within the antiseptic neutrality where they’re most comfortable: irrelevant celebrity cameos, cheap millennial nostalgia, unmoored wistfulness for simpler days.
From Slate • Feb. 8, 2026
In an age before antiseptic, opening up the body almost always led to infection and death.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
They were all the same: tube lights flickering, the air thick with the stench of decay and antiseptic.
From BBC • Mar. 22, 2025
Given that environment, he added, it's crucial that intelligence agencies act in an "apolitical" and "antiseptic" way.
From Salon • Dec. 4, 2024
I look away as Eric wipes my neck with an antiseptic wipe and eases the needle into my skin.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
