amorphous
Americanadjective
-
lacking definite form; having no specific shape; formless.
the amorphous clouds.
-
of no particular kind or character; indeterminate; having no pattern or structure; unorganized.
an amorphous style; an amorphous personality.
-
Petrography, Mineralogy. occurring in a mass, as without stratification or crystalline structure.
-
Chemistry. not crystalline.
-
Biology. having structural components that are not clearly differentiated, as the nuclear material in certain bacteria.
adjective
-
lacking a definite shape; formless
-
of no recognizable character or type
-
(of chemicals, rocks, etc) not having a crystalline structure
-
Not made of crystals. Glass, amber, and plastics are amorphous substances.
-
Lacking definite form or shape.
Other Word Forms
- amorphism noun
- amorphously adverb
- amorphousness noun
Etymology
Origin of amorphous
First recorded in 1725–35, amorphous is from the Greek word ámorphos shapeless. See a- 6, -morph, -ous
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.
Some industry insiders have asked whether the OpenClaw-Moltbook phenomenon is evidence of “artificial general intelligence,” an amorphous concept described throughout the history of AI development as a moment when machines achieve humanlike intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026
Musically inclined, Douglas and James both spend time at the keyboard, accompanying themselves on songs that give form to their amorphous inner lives.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2026
“Another more amorphous change is the culture…the new Boeing sounds a lot more like what Airbus would call humble, and that is no bad thing.”
From Barron's • Jan. 28, 2026
This amorphous metal is highly unstable and exists only as long as the stationary atoms continue to confine it.
From Science Daily • Dec. 11, 2025
For the victims—and their advocate in Terryl—the year 2008 evolved into one of living with uncertainty, under the haze of an amorphous legal cloud, and an emotional one.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
