gelatinous

ge·lat·i·nous
G2E1L1A1T1I1N1O1U1S1
Australia, Canada, US, UK/d͡ʒəˈlæt.ɪn.əs/UK, Scotland/d͡ʒəˈlat.ɪn.əs/Canada, US, UK, Scotland, nonstandard/ˈd͡ʒɛl.ə.tɪn.əs/Australia, nonstandard/ˈd͡ʒel.ə.tɪn.əs/

adjective

Jelly-like.

Opposite
UncommonScrabble 11

Meanings

adjectivegelatinous (comparative more gelatinous, superlative most gelatinous)

comparative more gelatinous · superlative most gelatinous · alternative uncommon gelatineous · alternative archaic gelatinose

  1. Jelly-like.

    And when it comes to mochi, the Japanese rice dough, much of its appeal can be attributed to a glorious bounce or a gelatinous squish or a comforting kind of gloop.

    2016 June 27, Tejal Rao, “Making Mochi, a Japanese Treat That’s All About Texture”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2021
    3 more examples

    In certain star-fishes, small depressions in the layer of pigment which surrounds the nerve are filled, as described by the author just quoted, with transparent gelatinous matter, and this projects outwardly with a convex surface, like the cornea in the higher animals.

    1866, Charles Darwin, “Difficulties on Theory”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], 4th edition, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 216

    Everyone listened, and everyone was listening still when It lumbered slobberingly into sight and gropingly squeezed Its gelatinous green immensity through the black doorway into the tainted outside air of that poison city of madness.

    1928 February, H[oward] P[hillips] Lovecraft, “The Call of Cthulhu”, in Farnsworth Wright, editor, Weird Tales: A Magazine of the Bizarre and Unusual, volume XI, number 2, Indianapolis, Ind.: Popular Fiction Publishing Company, →OCLC

    Winston was gelatinous with fatigue. Gelatinous was the right word. It had come into his head spontaneously. His body seemed to have not only the weakness of a jelly, but its translucency.

    1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 9, in Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC; republished [Australia]: Project Gutenberg of Australia, August 2001, part 2, page 165
  2. Of or referring to gelatin.

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite

adjectivethick like gelatin

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frenchgélatineux
  2. Englishgelatinous

From gelatine + -ous; probably modeled on French gélatineux.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan gelatinós, gelatinós
  • gelatinósjelly-like
  • gelatinósof or referring to gelatin
Chinese Mandarin 膠狀 /胶状, 膠質 /胶质
  • 膠狀 /胶状 (jiāozhuàng)jelly-like
  • 膠質 /胶质 (jiāozhì)jelly-like
  • 動物膠的 /动物胶的 (dòngwùjiāo de)of or referring to gelatin
Czech rosolovitý
  • rosolovitýjelly-like
Esperanto gelatena
  • gelatenajelly-like
Finnish hyytelömäinen, gelatiininen
  • hyytelömäinenjelly-like
  • gelatiininenof or referring to gelatin
French gélatineux
  • gélatineuxjelly-like
German gelatineartig, gelatinös
  • gelatineartigjelly-like
  • gelatinösjelly-like
  • geleeartigjelly-like
  • Gelatine-of or referring to gelatin
Italian gelatinoso
  • gelatinosojelly-like
Polish galaretowaty, żelatynowy
  • galaretowatyjelly-like
  • żelatynowyof or referring to gelatin
Portuguese gelatinoso
  • gelatinosojelly-like
Russian студени́стый, желатиновый
  • студени́стый (studenístyj)jelly-like
  • желатиновый (želatinovyj)of or referring to gelatin
Spanish gelatinoso
  • gelatinosojelly-like
Swedish gelatinartad
  • gelatinartadjelly-like
Cite this entry
APA

gelatinous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gelatinous

MLA

“gelatinous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gelatinous. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gelatinous,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gelatinous.

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