amorphous

amor·phous

adj \ə-ˈmȯr-fəs\

Definition of AMORPHOUS

1

a : having no definite form : shapeless <an amorphous cloud mass> b : being without definite character or nature : unclassifiable <an amorphous segment of society> c : lacking organization or unity <an amorphous style of writing>

2

: having no real or apparent crystalline form <an amorphous mineral>

— amor·phous·ly adverb

— amor·phous·ness noun

Examples of AMORPHOUS

1. an amorphous segment of society
2. <amorphous lumps of clay magically transformed by a skilled potter's hands into works of art>
3. Oblivious to all the attention, the big cat calmly sashayed to a concave little hollow scooped out of an artificial granite cliff-side at the rear of her cage. There, her four sleeping, newborn cubs were nestled one atop another so tightly that they formed one amorphous lump of fur. —Jon Luoma, Audubon, November l982
4. Astronomers think our solar system took shape when an amorphous interstellar cloud of dust and gas collapsed under its own weight. The conservation of angular momentum, or spin, kept some of the material from simply falling all the way to the newborn sun; instead it settled into a pancake shape. —Michael W. Werner et al., Scientific American, June 2009
5. Most library and academic accrediting associations either ignore weeding or have general, rather amorphous, standards. Among the more specific standards are those of the American Library Associations' 1967 public library systems standards, which suggest annual weeding of at least 5 percent of “community collections,” with headquarters libraries weeding more cautiously … —LJ Special Report, 1990
6. A quarter of a century ago, author Betty Friedan stumbled upon a “problem that has no name.”“ Middle-class American women were prisoners of gilded cages, she argued, unfulfilled by their exclusive roles as wives and mother. Friedan gave the amorphous problem, and the book that described it, a name -- ”The Feminine Mystique“—and with it helped launch one of the most transforming social movements in modern history.” —Eloise Salholz et al., Newsweek, 31 Mar. 1986

Origin of AMORPHOUS

Greek amorphos, from a- + morphē form

First Known Use: circa 1731

Related to AMORPHOUS

Synonyms: formless, shapeless, unformed, unshaped, unstructured

Antonyms: formed, shaped, shapen, structured

Related Words: characterless, featureless, nondescript; chaotic, disorganized, incoherent, systemless, unordered, unorganized; dim, fuzzy, hazy, inchoate, indefinite, indeterminate, indistinct, indistinguishable, murky, nebulous, obscure, unclear, undefined, undetermined, vague

Near Antonyms: coherent, ordered, orderly, organized; clear, decided, definite, distinct

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Other Mineralogy Terms

agate, host, inclusion, matrix, streak