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
- crystallinity noun
- multicrystalline adjective
- noncrystalline adjective
- precrystalline adjective
- pseudocrystalline adjective
- subcrystalline adjective
- uncrystalline adjective
Etymology
Origin of crystalline
1350–1400; Middle English cristal ( l ) yn ( e ) < Latin crystallinus < Greek krystállinos. See crystal, -ine 1
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.
L.A.’s smog changed just about everything around us — even the crystalline light that the Chamber of Commerce bragged about, that enticed people to come here.
From Los Angeles Times
These included metals such as copper, noble gases under extreme pressure such as argon in crystalline state, and the complex solid-solid phase transition of tin.
From Science Daily
That sharp crystalline hit against the fudgy crumb makes the chocolate taste deeper.
From Salon
Best of all, it’s self-organizing: Under the right conditions, it automatically forms a regular, crystalline pattern.
Alongside his own survey of Mont Blanc published in a monumental chromolithograph is his modest diagram of its underlying crystalline structure, as if it were a faceted gem.
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.
