dextrorotatory

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adjective

That rotates the plane of polarized light to the right, or clockwise. Notation: (+) or formerly lowercase d-.

“Dexibuprofen is the active dextrorotatory enantiomer of ibuprofen.”

Similar
dextrogyredextrogyratedextrod-dex-dextro-dextrorotaryright-handed
Opposite
levorotatory
OriginEnglish rotatory ← Latin dexter ← Proto-Italic *deksteros →
Scrabble 25
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Meanings

adjectivedextrorotatory (not comparable)
  1. not comparablechemistryThat rotates the plane of polarized light to the right, or clockwise. Notation: (+) or formerly lowercase d-.

    Dexibuprofen is the active dextrorotatory enantiomer of ibuprofen.

    Synonyms: dextrogyre, dextrogyrate, dextro, d-, dex-, dextro-

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveThat rotates the plane of polarized light to the right, or clockwise. Notation: (+) or formerly lowercase d-.

Similar
dextrogyredextrogyratedextrod-dex-dextro-
Opposite
levorotatory

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiverotating to the right

Similar
dextrorotaryright-handedclockwise
Also see
clockwisedextrorotaryright-handed

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*déḱs
  2. Proto-Indo-European*deḱs-terós
  3. Proto-Italic*deksteros
  4. Latindexter
  5. Englishdextro-
  6. Englishrotatory
  7. Englishdextrorotatory

From dextro- + rotatory.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan dextrorotatori
  • dextrorotatorithat rotates the plane of polarized light to the right
Finnish dekstrorotatorinen
  • dekstrorotatorinenthat rotates the plane of polarized light to the right
French dextrogyre
  • dextrogyrethat rotates the plane of polarized light to the right
German rechtsdrehend
  • rechtsdrehendthat rotates the plane of polarized light to the right
Greek δεξιόστροφος
  • δεξιόστροφος (dexióstrofos)that rotates the plane of polarized light to the right
Italian destrogiro
  • destrogirothat rotates the plane of polarized light to the right
Portuguese dextrógiro
  • dextrógirothat rotates the plane of polarized light to the right
Russian правовращающий
  • правовращающий (pravovraščajuščij)that rotates the plane of polarized light to the right
Spanish dextrógiro
  • dextrógirothat rotates the plane of polarized light to the right
Cite this entry
APA

dextrorotatory. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dextrorotatory

MLA

“dextrorotatory.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dextrorotatory. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dextrorotatory,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dextrorotatory.

Source: dextrorotatory on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.