Affected by constipation; also meaning stingy, reluctant to spend money, or emotionally closed.
From Old French 'costif,' derived from Latin 'constipatus' (crowded together, constipated). The medical meaning came first, and the figurative meanings developed as constipation came to represent emotional or financial tightness.
This word brilliantly shows how English uses physical bodily experiences as metaphors—'costive' meaning both constipated and stingy implies that refusing to spend is like refusing to release, a dark but clever linguistic connection.
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