gossamer

American  

[gos-uh-mer] / ˈgɒs ə mər /

noun

1. a fine, filmy cobweb seen on grass or bushes or floating in the air in calm weather, especially in autumn.

2. a thread or strand of a filmy cobweb seen outdoors.

3. an extremely delicate variety of gauze, used especially for veils.

4. any thin, light fabric.

5. something extremely light, flimsy, or delicate.

   The viper appeared to be midway through sloughing off its skin, half covered as it was with a thin gossamer of its former outer self.

6. a thin, waterproof outer garment, especially for women, popular in the late 19th century.

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adjective

1. Also gossamery gossamered. of or like gossamer; extremely light, flimsy, or delicate: Perhaps our hopes are gossamer dreams, strung together with wishful thinking.

   Did you notice this dragonfly's gossamer wings?

   Perhaps our hopes are gossamer dreams, strung together with wishful thinking.

gossamer British  

/ ˈɡɒsəmə /

noun

1. a gauze or silk fabric of the very finest texture

2. a filmy cobweb often seen on foliage or floating in the air

3. anything resembling gossamer in fineness or filminess

4. (modifier) made of or resembling gossamer

   gossamer wings

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Other Word Forms

• gossamery
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of gossamer

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English gos(s)esomer, gossummer “filmy substance made of cobwebs; fine filament; something trivial”; possibly first used as a name for late, mild autumn, a time when goose was a favorite dish (compare German Gänsemonat “November”), then transferred to the cobwebs frequent at that time of year

Explanation

Gossamer is something super fine and delicate — like a spider web or the material of a wedding veil. The original gossamer, from which these meanings come from, is the fine, filmy substance spiders excrete to weave their webs. A dress can be gossamer-like, if its fabric is so sheer as to be see-through, or almost. Your chances of going to a good college are "gossamer thin" if you've never cracked a book in high school.

Example Sentences

When I interviewed Eilish about her song “What Was I Made For” in 2023, I suggested that her gossamer vocals reminded me of McLachlan’s.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2025

Back in October, after speaking with food content creator and cookbook author Owen Han, I described frico as such: “lacy, gossamer, uber-crispy cooked flats of parmesan cheese.”

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2025

Princeton researchers have learned to harness the gossamer scaffolding that maintains the structure of living cells and used it to develop a nanotechnology platform.

From Science Daily • Jan. 25, 2024

Most K-pop acts rely on hip-hop and EDM for stylistic inspiration, so when teen group NewJeans decorated their gossamer melodies with a patter of drum and bass, it felt like a breath of fresh air.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2023

Curiously enough, though, the bandits let him hang around their headquarters—as long as he kept his face covered with a pale-red gossamer mask made out of poppy petals.

From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger

Related Words

• fibrous
• silky
• translucent