amorphous
Americanadjective
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lacking definite form; having no specific shape; formless.
the amorphous clouds.
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of no particular kind or character; indeterminate; having no pattern or structure; unorganized.
an amorphous style; an amorphous personality.
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Petrography, Mineralogy. occurring in a mass, as without stratification or crystalline structure.
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Chemistry. not crystalline.
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Biology. having structural components that are not clearly differentiated, as the nuclear material in certain bacteria.
adjective
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lacking a definite shape; formless
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of no recognizable character or type
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(of chemicals, rocks, etc) not having a crystalline structure
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Not made of crystals. Glass, amber, and plastics are amorphous substances.
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Lacking definite form or shape.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of amorphous
First recorded in 1725–35, amorphous is from the Greek word ámorphos shapeless. See a- 6, -morph, -ous
Explanation
Amorphous means without a clearly defined form, like the moon's amorphous reflection in a lake. Figuratively, something amorphous lacks focus, be it a work of art, a political movement, or even someone's life plans. The Greek roots of this word are clear: morphē means "form," and a- means "lacking or without." When creative works or ideas are described as amorphous, it means they suffer from a lack of organization. An amorphous object lacks a well-defined outline or structure, like amorphous jellyfish drifting on the surface of the ocean. And scientifically, this adjective simply describes something without a crystalline form, like an amorphous metal or amorphous ice.
Vocabulary lists containing amorphous
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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The Great Gatsby
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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.
Digital disaffection has bled into our lives like dye onto white linen, creeping through every inch of the fabric until it’s covered in amorphous patterns of color; some beautiful, some painfully ugly.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
Electability can be a frustratingly amorphous concept—one that isn’t always fair either.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2026
The combination of dislocations introduced during fabrication and the framework of amorphous interfaces produced an exceptionally strong CoAl intermetallic.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
“There’s no historical precedent in modern California history for a governor’s race with such a large field or such an amorphous field of candidates,” said longtime political observer Dan Schnur.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
And now he had this amorphous, ominous, legal cloud.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
