hydrophobic
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to hydrophobia
-
chem tending not to dissolve in, mix with, or be wetted by water Compare hydrophilic
a hydrophobic colloid
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hydrophobic
First recorded in 1640–50; hydrophobe + -ic
Vocabulary lists containing hydrophobic
Cell Biology - High School
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Biochemistry
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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.
Wildfires can make soils become hydrophobic, with vaporized organic matter forming a waxy crust that repels water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
The same technology could also have potential uses in post-traumatic OA, intervertebral disc degeneration, rotator cuff degeneration, and the localized delivery of other hydrophobic drug candidates.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
Such fabrics are hydrophobic, or water hating, similar to grease and oils.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
But in a counterintuitive twist, the very mechanism that enables hydrophobic surfaces to deflect water droplets also leads to the shearing effect outlined in Backholm's paper.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 16, 2024
He was extremely fond of his glass of wine, and had, beside, that hydrophobic distaste, which has been imagined essential to the true poet.
From The American Quarterly Review, No. 17, March 1831 by Robert Walsh
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
