crystalline
Americanadjective
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of or like crystal; clear; transparent.
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formed by crystallization.
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composed of crystals.
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pertaining to crystals or their formation.
adjective
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having the characteristics or structure of crystals
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consisting of or containing crystals
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made of or like crystal; transparent; clear
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of crystalline
1350–1400; Middle English cristal ( l ) yn ( e ) < Latin crystallinus < Greek krystállinos. See crystal, -ine 1
Explanation
Things that are made of or resemble crystals are crystalline. Crystalline rocks you find on the beach are glittery and reflective, with many symmetrical planes or surfaces. A geologist will use the adjective crystalline very literally, describing crystalline chunks of quartz or the crystalline planes of a salt molecule seen under a microscope. Sometimes the word is also used to mean "extremely clear," like the crystalline prose of a short story or the crystalline forms of your striking black-and-white photography. The Greek source is krystallinos, "of crystal," from kryos, "frost."
Vocabulary lists containing crystalline
Earth Science - Middle School
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Structure and Properties of Matter - Middle School
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Rocks and Minerals - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Large solar developments can transform hundreds, or even thousands, of acres of rural land, paneling them with crystalline silicon and tempered glass.
From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026
First Solar’s technology doesn’t use crystalline silicon, commonly used in solar cells, and the company has said it isn’t dependen China’s solar supply chains.
From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026
Fleshwater’s crystalline guitar leads and tidal currents of noise hit so much harder for the revving percussion, which moves with the dexterity of metal and hardcore.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
Sofi Oksanen’s crystalline Finnish libretto, translated into multiple languages by Aleksi Barrière, Saariaho’s son, takes place on two levels that gradually meld into one.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
If only she would learn some theory, she would understand how her supposed antihelical features arose from the minor distortions needed to pack regular helices into a crystalline lattice.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
