What does costive mean?
"Costive" is a formal adjective whose primary meaning is suffering from constipation — that is, having infrequent or difficult bowel movements. Derived ultimately from Latin roots meaning "to press together" or "crowd together," it entered English in the late Middle Ages via French medical vocabulary. In modern usage the word has largely been displaced by "constipated" in everyday and clinical speech, leaving "costive" with a distinctly literary, formal, or faintly humorous flavor. Beyond its bodily sense, the word has long carried a figurative extension: a costive writer produces little and slowly, a costive giver is reluctant to part with money, and a costive temperament is one that holds back. This second sense was especially popular among seventeenth- and eighteenth-century authors, who applied it to taciturn speakers and miserly patrons alike. Though rare today, "costive" remains useful precisely because of this dual character — precise in its medical core yet flexible enough to describe any manner of slowness, retention, or reluctance to yield what one contains.
Suffering from constipation; characterized by infrequent or difficult evacuation of the bowels.
"A sedentary lifestyle and a diet poor in fibre left him chronically costive."
Largely replaced by "constipated" in contemporary medical usage; retains a formal or literary register.
Slow, reluctant, or ungenerous in speech, expression, action, or giving.
"The novelist's costive output — one slim book a decade — made each new title an event."
Chiefly literary or historical; common in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century writing.
"Costive" once described not just sluggish bowels but stingy poets and tight-fisted patrons — Shakespeare's era loved using it as an insult for anyone slow with words or money.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of costive
Costive derives from Middle English, adopted from Old French "costif" (or "costevif"), which traces back to Late Latin "constipatus," the past participle of "constipare," meaning to press or crowd together. This same Latin verb gives us "constipation" and "constipate," making them close cognates. The word entered English in the late medieval period as a term of medicine and has been used figuratively since at least the early modern period to describe slowness of speech or stinginess.
Related word forms
How costive is actually used
In modern medical contexts the word is largely superseded by "constipated," so today it carries a somewhat formal, literary, or humorous register. The extended sense — describing someone slow, reticent, or niggardly — was common in earlier centuries and survives mainly in older literature. It should be used with care around readers unfamiliar with its medical origin, since the primary literal meaning can lend an unintended comic tone.
Easily confused with costive
Captive means imprisoned or held against one's will, whereas costive refers to constipation or figurative slowness of expression or action.