agglomeration
Americannoun
-
a jumbled cluster or mass of varied parts.
- Synonyms:
- aggregate, agglomerate, conglomerate, aggregation, conglomeration, jumble
-
the act or process of agglomerating.
Usage
What does agglomeration mean? An agglomeration is a messy cluster or jumbled collection of various elements.Agglomeration is often used to refer to groupings of miscellaneous things—such as various types of objects or even people—into a single (though often somewhat messy) unit.The similar word conglomeration can be used to mean just about the same thing, but it doesn’t always imply a sense of messiness like agglomeration usually does.Agglomeration can also refer to the process of agglomerating—gathering into a cluster or mass.Agglomeration is also used in a more specific way in the context of computer programming to refer to a process in which certain tasks are grouped together in code.Example: I forgot that the art project was due today, so my collage is really just an agglomeration of things I found around the house.
Etymology
Origin of agglomeration
First recorded in 1765–75; agglomerate + -ion
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.
Dockless schemes might also help the economy - something that Ant Breach, a director at the Centre for Cities, an economic think tank, says is explained by the "agglomeration" effect.
From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026
Instead, it is an agglomeration of mutually exclusive cultures established separately on the continent at different times by different peoples, each based on its own disparate “habits, beliefs, customs, values, and ideals.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
In part that’s because something about a Giant White House’s design suggests the agglomeration of houselike details without actually adding up to an identifiable home.
From Slate • Mar. 6, 2025
The metal nanoparticles stuck to the surface of the glass, and the agglomeration of the metal particles creates the nanostructures.
From Science Daily • Jan. 18, 2024
That was all London was beyond its center, an agglomeration of dull little towns.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
