Meaning & use
antiperspirant
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A product you put on your skin, usually under your arms, to make you sweat less.
Grammar: Can be countable (an antiperspirant, two antiperspirants) or uncountable when talking about the substance (a stick of antiperspirant).
Patterns
- use/wear an antiperspirant
- apply antiperspirant to something
- an antiperspirant for sensitive skin
She switched to an antiperspirant because her shirts were getting damp by lunchtime.
Apply the antiperspirant at night so it has time to work before you get up.
This antiperspirant is designed for people with sensitive skin.
adjectivebefore a noun
Used before a noun to describe a product that reduces how much you sweat.
Grammar: Always comes before the noun: an antiperspirant spray, an antiperspirant roll-on. It is not used after a verb.
Patterns
- antiperspirant spray
- antiperspirant roll-on
- antiperspirant cream
He keeps an antiperspirant spray in his gym bag.
Antiperspirant deodorant is more common in hot countries than plain deodorant.
Word forms
| plural | antiperspirants |
|---|
Common combinations
- apply antiperspirant
- Apply antiperspirant to dry skin for the best results.
- a strong antiperspirant
- After the marathon he needed a strong antiperspirant.
- antiperspirant deodorant
- This antiperspirant deodorant keeps you dry and fresh all day.
- an antiperspirant for sensitive skin
- The pharmacist recommended an antiperspirant for sensitive skin.
- put on antiperspirant
- He put on antiperspirant before the interview.
Synonyms and how they differ
- deodorant
- A deodorant mainly covers up or reduces smell, while an antiperspirant actually cuts down how much you sweat; many products do both.
- roll-on
- A roll-on describes the container and how you apply it, not what the product does, so a roll-on may be either a deodorant or an antiperspirant.
- antiperspirant stick
- A stick is one common physical form of an antiperspirant, so it is narrower than the general word.
Word family
- perspire verb
- To sweat; the formal verb behind the -spir- part of antiperspirant.
- perspiration noun
- Sweat, or the process of sweating.
- antiperspirant adjective
- The same word used before a noun, as in antiperspirant spray.
Commonly confused: antiperspirant or deodorant? antiperspirant or antiseptic?
antiperspirant vs deodorant
A deodorant fights body odor but does not stop sweat; an antiperspirant blocks or reduces sweating. Many products are labeled both, so read the label if you want less sweat.
antiperspirant vs antiseptic
An antiseptic kills germs on skin or wounds and has nothing to do with sweating, though the two words look similar and both start with anti-.
Practice
Which sentence uses antiperspirant correctly?
Choose one answer.
Antiperspirant is a noun (or an adjective before a noun), so it follows a verb like put on. Options 1 and 4 wrongly use it as a verb, and option 3 wrongly uses it as an adjective after the verb be.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “antiperspirant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.