spittle

Spittle is saliva, especially when it has left the mouth. On a lip, on a chin, or flying during an argument.

The word is unattractive by design, which is exactly why writers use it, since describing spittle at the corner of a mouth is a way of making a character repellent. It is a mass noun. Saliva is the neutral medical word and spit is the everyday one, so spittle sits in between and belongs almost entirely to written description. The adjective is spittly, which nobody uses.