chrysalis
Americannoun
plural
chrysalises, chrysalidesnoun
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the obtect pupa of a moth or butterfly
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anything in the process of developing
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The pupa of certain kinds of insects, especially of moths and butterflies, that is inactive and enclosed in a firm case or cocoon from which the adult eventually emerges.
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The case or cocoon of a chrysalis.
Etymology
Origin of chrysalis
1650–60; < Latin chrȳsalis < Greek chrȳsallís, equivalent to chrȳs- chrys- + -allis suffix, probably with diminutive value
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.
Trefry likened this awkward time of life to the stage in a butterfly’s development when a caterpillar disappears inside a chrysalis and dissolves into goo before reforming into something entirely new.
From Salon • Nov. 24, 2025
Nearly every one of those caterpillars at some point drops from the tree canopy to overwinter or create a chrysalis.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025
"By the time we emerged from the chrysalis, we were fully formed," says Georgia.
From BBC • Nov. 6, 2023
But Wise thinks butterflies are a better example of how nature deviates from our Western norms because of their many transformations, from caterpillar to a kind of goo inside a chrysalis to butterfly.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2023
She would emerge like a butterfly from a chrysalis.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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.
