Sunday Word: Amorphous

[sallymn]

amorphous [uh-mawr-fuhs]

verb:
1 lacking definite form; having no specific shape; formless
2 of no particular kind or character; indeterminate; having no pattern or structure; unorganized


Examples:

It could seem like a drawback that both Ember and Wade are visually amorphous - the flames that constitute her body and the water that makes up his are in constant motion - but they're always clearly these two vivid, passionate characters. (Chris Hewitt, Pixar's 'Elemental' is a romantic but murky mix of fire and water, The Washington Post, June 2023)

When Wallace Neff began designing bubble houses, he believed it was his greatest architectural achievement. The trailblazing California architect was known for designing stately mansion for the Hollywood elite during the golden age of film, and these amorphous structures were certainly a departure from his previous work (Katherine McLaughlin, 9 Bubble Houses Around the World, Architectural Digest, July 2023)

Post Malone is, in many ways, the perfect embodiment of our current amorphous musical landscape, where questions surrounding authenticity and originality have become moot in the age of AI. (Alina Zaheer, Post Malone Austin Review: The Inevitability of Pop Formula, Slant, July 2023)

This was the shocking thing; that the slime of the pit seemed to utter cries and voices; that the amorphous dust gesticulated and sinned; that what was dead, and had no shape, should usurp the offices of life. (Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)

Origin:

'shapeless, having no determined form,' 1731, from Modern Latin amorphus, from Greek amorphos 'without form, shapeless, deformed,' from a- 'without' + morphē 'form,' a word of uncertain etymology (Online Etymology Dictionary)