pendulous
Americanadjective
-
hanging down loosely.
pendulous blossoms.
- Synonyms:
- pendent
-
swinging freely; oscillating.
-
vacillating or undecided; wavering.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- pendulously adverb
- pendulousness noun
- semipendulous adjective
- semipendulously adverb
- semipendulousness noun
- unpendulous adjective
- unpendulously adverb
- unpendulousness noun
Etymology
Origin of pendulous
First recorded in 1595–1605, pendulous is from the Latin word pendulus hanging, swinging. See pend, -ulous
Explanation
Walking a path with pendulous trees, the kind with hanging branches, is easier if you're five rather than seven feet tall. Pendulous most commonly refers to branches of trees or bushes, or other plant matter like flowers or leaves that droop or bend downward. You could hide easily in the Amazon rain forest because of all the pendulous plant life. When not referring to plants, pendulous means "saggy" or "droopy."
Vocabulary lists containing pendulous
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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.
So she gave both modes equal presence, and championed artists like Vivian Browne, Suzanne Jackson and Noah Jemison who blended them in their paintings, as Senga Nengudi did in her pendulous nylon mesh sculptures.
From New York Times • Oct. 6, 2022
Like the album, her set opened with “Saoko,” a song whose sputtery jazz intro quickly gave way to a pendulous bass line that sounded like a spaceship parallel parking on the roof.
From Washington Post • Sep. 27, 2022
The cyr wheel is paired with Dvořák’s mesmerizing “Slavonic Dance,” while waltzes by Johann Strauss II will match the pendulous rhythm of the trapeze.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 16, 2021
This cloud is large, low, dark and pendulous.
From The Guardian • Dec. 30, 2016
Red Pollard was sinking downward through his life with the pendulous motion of a leaf falling through still air.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
