amorphous

UK/əˈmɔ(ɹ)fəs/US/əˈmɔ(ɹ)fəs/

adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,410 of 15,258mostly written

Amorphous means having no definite shape or structure. An amorphous mass, an amorphous group, amorphous solids.

In materials science it is exact: an amorphous solid has no crystal structure, and glass is the everyday example. Of an organisation it is a criticism, since an amorphous group is one nobody can pin down.

Definitions of amorphous

1adjectiveamorphousHaving no definite shape or structure.C2
“The smoke drifted into amorphous shapes that kept changing in the wind.”

amorphous is a quality.

Where it comes from

Greek amorphos means shapeless, from a-, without, plus morphe, form.

Ancient Greek
ἄμορφος — without form, shapeless, deformed
English, today
amorphous

Built from

ἀ- · Ancient Greek — without
μορφή · Ancient Greek — form

From Ancient Greek ἄμορφος (“without form, shapeless, deformed”) (itself from ἀ- (“without”) + μορφή (“form”) -ous. by surface analysis, a- + -morphous.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

amorphous in the wild

The terms "glass" and "glassy solid" are sometimes used synonymously with amorphous solid; however, these terms refer specifically to amorphous materials that undergo a glass transition.
Amorphous solid
Examples of amorphous solids include glasses, metallic glasses, and certain types of plastics and polymers.
Amorphous solid
A third category of solids is amorphous solids, where the atoms have no periodic structure whatsoever.
Crystal
Examples of amorphous solids include glass, wax, and many plastics.
Crystal
Alloys with cooling rates low enough to allow formation of amorphous structure in thick layers have been produced and are known as bulk metallic glasses.
Amorphous metal

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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