undulant
adjective
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When should you use undulant?
If you’re looking for an adjective that encapsulates the rising and falling of the briny sea, wave hello to undulant. While not an especially common descriptor, it is useful not only for describing the ocean itself, but for everything from rolling hills to a snake’s sinuous movement to a fever that waxes and wanes. The root of undulant is, perhaps unsurprisingly, unda, a Latin word meaning “wave.” Other English words swimming the wake of unda include inundate, “to cover with a flood,” and undulate, “to form or move in waves.”
Examples of undulant in a Sentence
Thomas Farragher, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2023
The sobrasada sits on a slab of black terrazzo perched on a pedestal, a straight-sided block of scoopable spiced sausage the color of red ochre whose surface is an undulant landscape.
—Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan. 2023
It is suspended, high in the air, above a line of low, undulant blue hills.
—Roxana Robinson, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2021
Behind her, an undulant cascade of a semi-transparent textile striped in dark green is nearly abstract.
—Roberta Smith, New York Times, 24 June 2021
The sprawling grounds of Houghton Hall, an English stately home dating back to the 18th century, are currently populated by the fluid, undulant sculptures of celebrated artist Tony Cragg.
—Jacqui Palumbo, CNN, 2 June 2021
The pool deck looks out on the undulant topography of Beverly Hills, with the steeple tops of pine trees etched in the distance.
—Barrett Swanson, Harper's Magazine, 25 May 2021
Michael Maloney reads this extraordinary book in gentle undulant tones for the most part, picking up speed and urgency as danger threatens.
—Katherine A. Powers Special To The Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 15 Jan. 2021
Michael Maloney reads this extraordinary book in gentle undulant tones for the most part, picking up speed and urgency as danger threatens, above all the otter hunt.
—Washington Post, 14 Dec. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Undulant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/undulant. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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undulant
adjective
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