glabrous

adjective

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gla·brous | \ ˈglā-brəs

Definition of glabrous

: smooth especially : having a surface without hairs or projections glabrous skin glabrous leaves

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"Before them an old man, / wearing a fringe of long white hair, bareheaded, / his glabrous skull reflecting the sun's / light…." No question about it—the bald crown of an old man's head (as described here in William Carlos Williams's poem "Sunday in the Park") is a surface without hairs. Williams's use isn't typical, though. More often glabrous appears in scientific contexts, such as the following description of wheat: "The white glumes are glabrous, with narrow acuminate beaks." And although Latin glaber, our word's source, can mean simply "bald," when glabrous refers to skin with no hair in scientific English, it usually means skin that never had hair (such as the palms of the hands).

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Dictionary Entries Near glabrous

glabrescent

glabrous

glacé

Statistics for glabrous

Cite this Entry

“Glabrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glabrous. Accessed 26 May. 2022.

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More Definitions for glabrous

glabrous

adjective

gla·brous | \ ˈglā-brəs

Medical Definition of glabrous

: having or being a smooth even surface specifically : having or being an epidermal covering that is totally or relatively devoid of hairs or down glabrous skin