amorphous

English

Etymology

    From Ancient Greek ἄμορφος (ámorphos, “without form, shapeless, deformed”) (itself from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + μορφή (morphḗ, “form”) +‎ -ous. By surface analysis, a- +‎ -morphous.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /əˈmɔ(ɹ)fəs/, /eɪˈmɔ(ɹ)fəs/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Hyphenation: a‧mor‧phous

    Adjective

    amorphous (comparative more amorphous, superlative most amorphous)

    1. Lacking a definite form or clear shape.
      Synonyms: formless, shapeless; see also Thesaurus:amorphous
      Antonyms: structured, well-defined
      amorphous blob
      The enormous pile of spaghetti landed on the floor in an amorphous heap.
    2. (by extension) Being without definite character or nature.
      • 1920 November 9, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 1, in Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed [by Thomas Seltzer] for subscribers only, →OCLC:
        Gudrun, new from her life in Chelsea and Sussex, shrank cruelly from this amorphous ugliness of a small colliery town in the Midlands. Yet forward she went, through the whole sordid gamut of pettiness, the long amorphous, gritty street.
      • 2023 September 27, John Kampfner, “German politics has a built-in firewall against the far right. It’s beginning to crack”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 October 2026:
        And people talking all the time about the AfD is just what it wants: to foster the impression that the others are ganging up against it. The “authentic” voice of “real people” v the amorphous elite.
    3. (by extension) Lacking organization or unity.
    5. (physics) In the non-crystalline solid state of, or being a non-crystalline counterpart to, a crystalline solid.
      Antonyms: crystalline, crystal
      Near-synonym: noncrystalline
      Glass is an amorphous solid, but some glass is called "crystal" because it looks crystalline and has been called crystal since before humans even understood molecular structure at all.
    6. (set theory, of a set) Infinite and not the disjoint union of two infinite subsets.

    Derived terms

    Translations

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    Further reading

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