cleft
1 Americanverb
adjective
-
cloven; split; divided.
-
(of a leaf, corolla, lobe, or other expanded plant part) having divisions formed by incisions or narrow sinuses that extend more than halfway to the midrib or the base.
verb
noun
-
a fissure or crevice
-
an indentation or split in something, such as the chin, palate, etc
adjective
-
split; divided
-
(of leaves) having one or more incisions reaching nearly to the midrib
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cleft1
1300–50; Middle English clift, Old English ( ge ) clyft split, cracked; cognate with Old High German, Old Norse kluft; akin to cleave 2
Origin of cleft2
see origin at cleft 1
Explanation
If you're looking for an indentation or opening in something, you're looking for a cleft (noun). A person with a cleft (adjective) chin has a little dent in the middle of their chin. Most superheroes have one. Superman is known for his ability to leap tall buildings, his crush on Lois Lane, and the cleft in his chin. For some reason, that cleft is supposed to make him look strong. Some clefts are not so nice. A cleft palate is an upper lip with a deep indentation in it that should be fixed by a surgeon. You may know the verb cleave, which means to cut down the middle. If you cleave something but don't finish the job, you've probably left a cleft in it.
Vocabulary lists containing cleft
Wonder
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Auggie & Me
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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.
See Examples For:
Three-month-old Sana, the youngest baby on the ward, has malnutrition, acute diarrhoea and a cleft lip.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2025
He had the darkest eyelashes I’ve ever seen, short and tidy fingernails, and a cleft chin that could fit a Canadian loonie.
From Slate ● Dec. 17, 2024
But he famously had a big cleft chin.
From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2023
I compared it to my own visual lexicon of roundness: cleft chin, tight curls, bumpy nose.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
By late afternoon he was on rocky ground cleft with ravines.
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
The timing of when DNA methylation occurs, was critical to the development of orofacial clefts.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2024
Holes, slits and clefts are common, surrounded by clay inscribed with organic patterns.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2023
The protein is large and globular, and it doesn’t have deep pockets or clefts on its surface where a drug could slip in.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2021
They communicate across infinitesimal gaps known as synaptic clefts.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2018
Pushing myself, continually out of breath, I scurried up and to the left, across small snowfields linked by ice-choked clefts and short rock steps.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
