preservative
adjective C2
Plain meaning
a substance added to food to stop it from spoiling
Exam-register meaning
In formal or high-level texts, it is used to describe a substance added to food to stop it from spoiling, often with a precise or specialised tone.
In context
naturalHis response sounded preservative, so the conversation became difficult.
examThe passage presents a preservative assessment of the policy’s wider consequences.
Common collocations
a preservative responsepreservative behavioura preservative situation
Watch out
Do not use “very preservative” automatically; some advanced adjectives already carry a strong meaning or need a more natural intensifier.
Word family
preservativeness (noun, where natural)preservatively (adverb, where natural)