The quality of being contractive; the tendency or capacity to cause contraction or reduction.
From 'contractive' (tending to contract) + '-ness' (quality of). This noun form emphasizes the inherent property of having a contracting effect.
The contractiveness of evaporating water is why wet cloth shrinks—the water molecules pulling away force the fabric fibers to draw closer together!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.