fibrous
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fibrous
Explanation
Something that's fibrous is coarse and stringy, like thick yarn or twine. Some baskets are made of woven and twisted fibrous branches. Fibrous things look like the fibers that are braided or twisted together to make a length of rope or jute. Many tree roots are fibrous, as are many vines and branches. A complicated hairdo may look like it's made of fibrous cords of hair. When you're eating something fibrous, it's hard to chew, like a chunk of fibrous meat in your stew or a fibrous broccoli stalk in your stir-fry. Fibrous comes from the Latin fibra, "fiber or filament."
Vocabulary lists containing fibrous
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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.
They’re structurally dense, meaning they contain more glandular and fibrous tissue than fat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
The more glands and fibrous tissue a person has, the denser their breasts.
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2026
Asbestos is a mined fibrous silicate that was widely used in home insulation, automobiles and other applications through the 1970s until its use was slowly phased out as its health impacts became widely known.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2026
As well as benefitting your gut, eating more fibrous food - like brown rice and jacket potatoes - has other benefits too.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2026
Their report was only off by a hair; the Kongo people made remarkable textiles by beating the fibrous bark of certain trees, or weaving thread from the raffia palm.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
