congeal

American  

[kuhn-jeel] / kənˈdʒil /

verb (used with or without object)

• congeals,
  present (3rd person singular)
• congealed,
  past participle,  past
• congealing
  present participle

1. to change from a soft or fluid state to a rigid or solid state, as by cooling or freezing.

   The fat congealed on the top of the soup.

   Synonyms:

   solidify, jell, set, harden

2. to curdle; coagulate, as a fluid.

3. to make or become fixed, as ideas, sentiments, or principles.

   Some philosophic systems lost their vitality and congealed.

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congeal British  

/ kənˈdʒiːl /

verb

1. to change or cause to change from a soft or fluid state to a firm or solid state

2. to form or cause to form into a coagulated mass; curdle; jell

3. (intr) (of ideas) to take shape or become fixed in form

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• congealability
  noun
• congealableness
  noun
• congealedness
  noun
• congealer
  noun
• congealment
  noun
• uncongeal
  verb (used without object)
• congealable
  adjective
• half-congealed
  adjective
• noncongealing
  adjective
• uncongealable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• congealing
  present
• congealed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• congeal
  simple
• congeals
  simple
• have congealed
  perfect
• has congealed
  perfect
• am congealing
  progressive
• are congealing
  progressive
• is congealing
  progressive
• have been congealing
  perfect progressive
• has been congealing
  perfect progressive

Past

• congealed
  simple
• had congealed
  perfect
• was congealing
  progressive
• were congealing
  progressive
• had been congealing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will congeal
  simple
• will have congealed
  perfect
• will be congealing
  progressive
• will have been congealing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of congeal

1350–1400; Middle English congelen (< Middle French congeler ) < Latin congelāre, equivalent to con- con- + gelāre to freeze; see gelid

Explanation

Congeal means to jell — to solidify or become gelatinous. Sounds gross? But wiggly Jell-O is actually congealed liquid, so it can't be that bad, right? This word comes to us from the Old French word congeler, which means "to freeze." So when something congeals it goes from liquid to solid form, almost like freezing. No one usually likes congealed anything — whether it's chunkified old soup in the fridge or dried blood on a wound. See? Pretty gross. Jell-O is about as good as congealed gets!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

congeal congeals congealed congealing

Aim for dishes that still taste perfectly fine when eaten lukewarm, that don’t seize up or congeal the moment they cool.

From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2026

"So they stay in one piece, and they gather together with fat, oil, and grease from kitchens, congeal and create a fatberg which causes flooding."

From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2025

And then it doesn’t really begin to congeal or take any shape until we’re in the edit.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2023

The clouds’ relative humidity climbs, ice particles congeal and snow falls — mostly in the highest, uninhabited interior — wrung dry by the 12,000- to 14,000-foot peaks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2023

As the water on the surface cools, it begins to condense, and individual ice crystals act as seeds, causing the water to congeal around them, squeezing the salt out into the water below.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

By episode 2, it congeals into something like a coherent picture.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025

Food is an organic compound: it congeals, runs, discolors and oxidizes over time and because of the conditions in the kitchen you’re shooting in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2023

“Myanmar Diaries” is the rare work that captures the now of a historical upheaval, pleading to us to pay attention before a brutal present congeals into the past and determines the future.

From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2023

To save money they might turn machines off when they are empty - meaning any residue goes bad or congeals in the system.

From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2021

The blood congeals into a long, red terrycloth rectangle.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

He said he saw congealed blood higher than the water level of the bath.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

The queso started fine but eventually congealed into something that approximated lukewarm paste.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026

In the Starkadders’ home, breakfast means congealed porridge, and cows are called Feckless, Aimless, Graceless and Pointless.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025

These protoplanetary disks slowly congealed into planets — so slowly, in fact, that astronomers speculated all of the protoplanetary disks that once existed have since blown away.

From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2024

Over the years life on Orchard Street passed with a tedium that eventually congealed into comfort.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

And multiple stacks of pizza boxes, their cooling, congealing slices triggering Logan into one of the mini-tirades his character is famous for.

From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2023

The Reyes memorial service, and the eulogists’ stories, crystallized a thought that had been congealing around the reporting: So much is unknown.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2022

Do you see your works, then, gesturing toward a congealing of identity, or some collective sensibility?

From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2021

As the virus spreads, the many discrete problems that it has exposed in earlier stages of the pandemic are now congealing into one epic challenge.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 8, 2020

It was instead that an ominous picture was congealing in his mind of patriot soldiers being fleeced by an army of speculators whose only loyalty was to their own profit margins.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• curdle
• thicken