amorphous

adjective amor·phous \ ə-ˈmȯr-fəs \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Examples: amorphous in a Sentence

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

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amorphously

adverb

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amorphousness

noun

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Examples of amorphous in a Sentence

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
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
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
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
an amorphous segment of society
amorphous lumps of clay magically transformed by a skilled potter's hands into works of art

Recent Examples of amorphous from the Web

The two-dimensional screens compose a visual field corresponding to the amorphous white space through which the dancers move.

— christopher knight, latimes.com, "'Made in L.A. 2018': Why the Hammer biennial is the right show for disturbing times," 5 June 2018
At least two of them—an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie and a Boba Fett movie—would be like Solo, prequels set in an amorphous time period before Lucas’s original films.

— david sims, The Atlantic, "With Solo, Has Star Wars Fatigue Set In?," 29 May 2018
China’s options for countering such amorphous efforts are not straightforward.

— The Economist, "A threatened trade war between China and America may be on hold," 24 May 2018
An initial blast singes the material to create amorphous carbon, or soot.

— prachi patel, Scientific American, "The Quirkier Uses of Graphene," 16 May 2018
The second group is more amorphous, but even larger.

— chris jones, chicagotribune.com, "Chicago's projects on Northerly Island have crumbled; will 'Hamilton: The Exhibition' succeed?," 11 May 2018
Yeah, even the amorphous people in the animated segments remind me of that.

— chris barton, latimes.com, "Wyatt Cenac returns to political comedy with a unique approach to 'Problem Areas' on HBO," 10 May 2018
As recently as a year ago, artificial intelligence was still an amorphous concept in medicine.

— casey ross, STAT, "Artificial intelligence may not be curing cancer, but it is already changing medicine," 11 May 2018
What results is an amorphous shape formed by stars and wisps of interstellar gas.

— shannon stirone, WIRED, "Space Photos of the Week: A Tale of Two Galaxies," 5 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'amorphous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.