surface-active agent vs surfactant

surface-active agent and surfactant both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
surface-active agent	Yes	No	No	No
surfactant	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, surface-active agent and surfactant are synonyms defined as:

surface-active agent and surfactant: a chemical agent capable of reducing the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved

Other synonyms of surface-active agent include wetter, wetting agent.

surface-active agent (noun)	surfactant (noun)
a chemical agent capable of reducing the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved	a chemical agent capable of reducing the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved