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
Etymology
Origin of crystalline
1350–1400; Middle English cristal ( l ) yn ( e ) < Latin crystallinus < Greek krystállinos. See crystal, -ine 1
Explanation
Things that are made of or resemble crystals are crystalline. Crystalline rocks you find on the beach are glittery and reflective, with many symmetrical planes or surfaces. A geologist will use the adjective crystalline very literally, describing crystalline chunks of quartz or the crystalline planes of a salt molecule seen under a microscope. Sometimes the word is also used to mean "extremely clear," like the crystalline prose of a short story or the crystalline forms of your striking black-and-white photography. The Greek source is krystallinos, "of crystal," from kryos, "frost."
Vocabulary lists containing crystalline
Earth Science - Middle School
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Structure and Properties of Matter - Middle School
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Rocks and Minerals - Introductory
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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.
Because the silicon layers retain their crystalline quality, the resulting devices maintain strong performance and reliability while remaining safely within the thermal budget required for monolithic integration.
From Science Daily • May 30, 2026
Large solar developments can transform hundreds, or even thousands, of acres of rural land, paneling them with crystalline silicon and tempered glass.
From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026
Ms. O’Hara, best known for her crystalline singing in musical revivals, proves to have a similarly wide range of octaves when it comes to physical comedy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
First Solar’s technology doesn’t use crystalline silicon, commonly used in solar cells, and the company has said it isn’t dependen China’s solar supply chains.
From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026
He hung his outdoor hat on a harp, so that every visit to the garden was marked by the sound of a single, crystalline note.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
