latent
present but not visible, apparent, or activated; existing as potential: latent ability.
Pathology. (of an infectious agent or disease) in a phase of being hidden or unrecognized; not yet exhibiting symptoms. : Compare dormant (def. 4).
Psychology. existing in unconscious or dormant form but potentially able to achieve expression: latent learning,a latent emotion.
Botany. (of buds that are not externally manifest) dormant or undeveloped.
Origin of latent
1synonym study For latent
Other words for latent
Opposites for latent
Other words from latent
- la·tent·ly, adverb
Words Nearby latent
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use latent in a sentence
By the time England slumped into its latest lockdown, I would come to think of my project not merely as a surrogate for my latent curiosity but as an inspiration to endure.
Nordica set the benchmark for accessible or latent power in 2019 with the Enforcer 104 Free.
Long-Term Review: The Best Skis, Period | Heather Schultz and Marc Peruzzi | March 4, 2021 | Outside OnlineSo when I said earlier that cognition is not intrinsically conscious, that’s just saying that memories are, for the most part, latent.
Washington can be a lonely place at the top, and these climbers are coming up together, resting on their excellence and latent potential.
Introducing the People Who Will Shape Washington for the Next Generation | Philip Elliott | February 17, 2021 | TimeI would rather feel they are bringing to the surface latent prejudices that are already there.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s challenge to liberal allies — and why it resonates today | Jeanne Theoharis | February 8, 2021 | Washington Post
But a recent trend is capitalizing on our latent desires to actually become the famous people we love and love to hate.
Kevin Spacey and the Most Inexplicable Celebrity Video Game Cameos | Amy Zimmerman | May 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSo it carbonates all of these, I'd say latent desires, to have more meaning in his life.
'About a Boy' Star David Walton Is No Hugh Grant, in the Best Way | Kevin Fallon | February 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMany pent-up resentments and latent frustrations are boiling inside the Negro, and he must release them.
Alex Haley’s 1965 Playboy Interview with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. | Alex Haley | January 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was more science faction, a monument to human potential—including the latent potential for self-destruction.
At the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a Steady Drip of Toxic Trouble | Eric Nusbaum | February 24, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut the "Zoabiz" was a small reminder that latent chauvinism is alive and well.
The Latent Chauvinism Of Lapid's "Zoabiz" Apology | Rawia Aburabia | February 14, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTNow listen to me, said the dying woman, aloud, as if making a great effort to revive one latent spark of energy.
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3) | Charles DickensThat high-pressure engines owed their advantages mainly to a reduction of the relative importance of this latent heat.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickIn descending it is recondensed, and by the process by which its atoms are brought together its latent heat is made sensible.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate ShalerAgain she felt that everlasting calm, arguing such latent forces, was the thing she hated most in him.
Mistress Wilding | Rafael SabatiniBut it possessed a latent purchasing power such as probably no other Government in history ever had.
The Supplies for the Confederate Army | Caleb Huse
British Dictionary definitions for latent
/ (ˈleɪtənt) /
potential but not obvious or explicit
(of buds, spores, etc) dormant
pathol (esp of an infectious disease) not yet revealed or manifest
(of a virus) inactive in the host cell, its nucleic acid being integrated into, and replicated with, the host cell's DNA
psychoanal relating to that part of a dream expressive of repressed desires: latent content Compare manifest (def. 2)
Origin of latent
1Derived forms of latent
- latency, noun
- latently, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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