extremophile
noun
Did you know?
No, an extremophile is not an enthusiast of extreme sports (though -phile does mean "one who loves or has an affinity for"). Rather, extremophiles are organisms—mostly microorganisms—that thrive in environments once considered uninhabitable, from places with high levels of toxicity and radiation to boiling-hot deep-sea volcanoes to Antarctic ice sheets. Scientists have even created a new biological domain to classify some of these extremophiles: Archaea (from Greek archaios, meaning "ancient"). These extremophiles may have a lot in common with the first organisms to appear on earth billions of years ago. If so, they can give us insight into how life on our planet may have arisen. They are also being studied to learn about possible life forms on other planets, where conditions are extreme compared to conditions on Earth.
Examples of extremophile in a Sentence
Doyle Rice, USA Today, 20 May 2025
But some microorganisms, known as extremophiles, show impressive resilience in inhospitable environments, whether that's the vacuum of space, hydrothermal vents on the slopes of undersea volcanoes, or even NASA clean rooms.
—Stefanie Waldek, Space.com, 18 May 2025
On Earth, organisms living in harsh environments, such as hydrothermal vents in the ocean floor, are called extremophiles, and the experiment could reveal which microorganisms are hardy enough to exist amid the harsh radiation of space.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 30 Jan. 2025
These tiny creatures are extremophiles, adapted for life in environments that would kill most other organisms.
—Tom Hawking, Popular Science, 24 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for extremophile
Cite this Entry
“Extremophile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extremophile. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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