chrysalis
Americannoun
noun
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the obtect pupa of a moth or butterfly
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anything in the process of developing
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The pupa of certain kinds of insects, especially of moths and butterflies, that is inactive and enclosed in a firm case or cocoon from which the adult eventually emerges.
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The case or cocoon of a chrysalis.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chrysalis
1650–60; < Latin chrȳsalis < Greek chrȳsallís, equivalent to chrȳs- chrys- + -allis suffix, probably with diminutive value
Explanation
A chrysalis is the form a caterpillar takes before it emerges from its cocoon as a fully formed moth or butterfly. The chrysalis has hard skin that's left behind after the caterpillar sheds its soft outer skin. Besides forming itself into a chrysalis, a caterpillar is also able to spin a kind of sticky silk for attaching itself to a branch or leaf. The often gold-colored chrysalis stays attached while undergoing further transformation toward becoming a butterfly. Chrysalis comes from the Greek khrysallis, "golden pupa of the butterfly," from khrysos, "gold."
Vocabulary lists containing chrysalis
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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.
See Examples For:
Trefry likened this awkward time of life to the stage in a butterfly’s development when a caterpillar disappears inside a chrysalis and dissolves into goo before reforming into something entirely new.
From Salon ● Nov. 24, 2025
Nearly every one of those caterpillars at some point drops from the tree canopy to overwinter or create a chrysalis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
But Nirupama Rao, former Indian ambassador to Beijing and Washington, says India is "a titan in chrysalis" - too large and ambitious to bind itself to any single great power.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025
Some may overwinter as adults, others in their immature stage as grubs, caterpillars or nymphs, while others will be in the pupal stage like a chrysalis or cocoon.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
His face looked ready to break out of its chrysalis.
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
If you spent a week in the dry forest as a child, examining chrysalides and ocelot droppings, you might, as an adult, see the forest as something other than a purely economic resource.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 30, 2015
We shall now devote a little space to a few general remarks on the chrysalides and the final metamorphosis of butterflies and moths.
From Butterflies and Moths (British) by Furneaux, William S.
The chrysalides are generally inclosed in cocoons on or beneath the ground, and are often provided with spines or bristles on the under side.
From Butterflies and Moths (British) by Furneaux, William S.
When I kept caterpillars, or rather raised butterflies, they never were tired of watching the chrysalides, hoping to see the expected butterflies.
From Guide to the Kindergarten and Intermediate Class and Moral Culture of Infancy. by Mann, Mary E.
The chrysalides are not angular like those of the preceding species, and though generally suspended by the tail, are sometimes found quite free among leaves and grasses on the ground.
From Butterflies and Moths (British) by Furneaux, William S.
The world’s top AI companies are now emerging from their private-market chrysalises to sell shares via initial public offerings.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
“Most butterflies and moths overwinter in the landscape either as eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises or adults,” says Barton.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 12, 2023
Then they transition to pupae, or chrysalises, for a week or two before emerging, or eclosing, for a short, winged adulthood.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
They lived in a mesh cage and grew bigger, much like the hero of Carle’s book, until they crawled and wiggled toward the top of the container, turning themselves into chrysalises.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2021
“In these collections, I saw countless other insects, but in a manner that lack both their origin and how they reproduced, that is to say how they changed from caterpillars to chrysalises and so on.”
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
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.
