flocculent

[flok-yuh-luh nt]

See more synonyms for flocculent on Thesaurus.com

adjective

like a clump or tuft of wool.
covered with a soft, woolly substance.
consisting of or containing loose woolly masses.

flocky.
Chemistry. consisting of flocs and floccules.

Origin of flocculent

First recorded in 1790–1800; flocc(us) + -ulent

Related formsfloc·cu·lence, floc·cu·len·cy, nounfloc·cu·lent·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for flocculent

downy, fluffy, woolly

Examples from the Web for flocculent

Historical Examples of flocculent

The oil of winter-green was in a flocculent state at 56 degrees, and solid at 63 degrees.
The Ocean and its Wonders
R.M. Ballantyne
The particles of this pigment are flocculent and very uniform in appearance.
Paint Technology and Tests
Henry A. Gardner
They are very flexible, and easily reducible into a flocculent mass.
Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
It is further stated that the "right pleura was coated with flocculent lymph, and the cavity contained serous fluid," etc.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II
Various
A white, flocculent precipitate results, which rapidly condenses to a crystalline powder, and turns blue on ignition.
Field's Chromatography
George Field

British Dictionary definitions for flocculent

flocculent

adjective

like wool; fleecy
chem aggregated in woolly cloudlike massesa flocculent precipitate
biology covered with tufts or flakes of a waxy or wool-like substance

Derived Formsflocculence or flocculency, nounflocculently, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for flocculent

adj.

"resembling wool," 1800, from Latin floccus "lock of hair, flock of wool" + -ulent. Related: Floculence.

flocculent in Medicine

flocculent

[flŏk′yə-lənt]

adj.

Having a fluffy or wooly appearance.
Containing numerous shreds or fluffy particles of grayish or white mucus or other material. Used of a fluid such as urine.
Of or being a fluid bacterial culture in which there are numerous colonies either floating in the fluid medium or loosely deposited at the bottom.
Having a soft waxy or wool-like covering, as of certain insects.

Related formsfloc′cu•lence n.