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lipophilic

American  
[lip-uh-fil-ik, lahy-puh-] / ˌlɪp əˈfɪl ɪk, ˌlaɪ pə- /

adjective

Physical Chemistry.

  1. having a strong affinity for lipids.

  2. promoting the dissolvability or absorbability of lipids.

lipophilic British  
/ ˌlaɪ-, ˌlɪpəʊˈtrɒpɪk, ˌlɪpəʊˈfɪlɪk /

adjective

  1. chem having an affinity for lipids

"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

Etymology

Origin of lipophilic

First recorded in 1945–50; lipo- 1 + -philic

Vocabulary lists containing lipophilic

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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.

Most of these toxics are lipophilic, stored in fats and blubber, and they really start circulating when mothers have less to eat, Weiss said.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 29, 2024

Researchers have traditionally stained the cells with lipophilic dyes and employed fluorescence microscopy to study LDs within cells.

From Science Daily • Jan. 24, 2024

THC and CBD are molecules that are lipophilic, which means they love fat.

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2023

Sequestration is now known to have evolved independently in five different lineages of frogs, all of which sequester lipophilic alkaloids from their diet of arthropods, including ants, beetles, millipedes, and oribatid mites.

From Scientific American • Aug. 21, 2012

Chlorinated compounds are lipophilic, or fat-loving; absorbed through the skin and gills, they concentrate in a fish's fatty tissue.

From Time Magazine Archive

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.