undulating

American  

[uhn-juh-leyt, uhn-dyuh-, -duh-] / ˈʌn dʒəˌleɪ tɪŋ, ˈʌn dyə-, -də- /

adjective

1. having a sinuous or wavelike shape or motion.

   Travelers marvel at the simplicity and beauty of the undulating bamboo roof, tree-like pillars, and natural light flooding into the airport terminal.

   The American goldfinch is easily detected in the spring or summer as a flash of yellow flying with an undulating motion.

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Other Word Forms

• nonundulating adjective

Etymology

Origin of undulating

First recorded in 1710–20; undulat(e) ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

“They’re fun,” architect Aejie Rhyu says of the creative couple Will Burroughs and Frith Dabkowski, as she walked by the undulating two-story ADU she helped them realize.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 22, 2025

Two years ago, England pushed Australia close in both of the defeats - after the febrile, wildly undulating and frequently pyrotechnic Edgbaston and Lord's Tests, England had scored 34.6 runs per wicket to Australia's 35.8.

From BBC • Dec. 9, 2025

This newly found "great wave" might also have some link to a smaller undulating structure known as the Radcliffe Wave, which lies roughly 500 light-years from the Sun and extends about 9,000 light-years across.

From Science Daily • Oct. 22, 2025

Determined to save her mother, Mae answers a supernatural summons and finds herself entering a cave where the flowers bloom under the bulging eyes of a dragon—a scaly, crimson, undulating monster straight from Chinese folklore.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

Fighting exhaustion, the two climbers continued up the undulating ridge above.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

• rolling