astringency.

1. A quality that causes a drying or puckering sensation, especially in the mouth, often through interaction with tissues and proteins.

2. A sharply critical or severe quality in speech, writing, or manner.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• the astringency of tea
• tannic astringency

On the page

The tea’s astringency dried her mouth after the sweetness passed.

She separated tannic astringency from the wine’s bitter taste.

Usage notes

Primary category: sensory / description. Forms: Usually uncountable; plural astringencies for distinct qualities. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.