Meanings
comparative more glabrous · superlative most glabrous
- Bald, hairless; smooth.
Adriaan rose, pulling out his limbering glabrous cock, his eyes happy.
1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!: Six Stories, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, →ISBN, page 1904 more examples
[T]he Vernacula or French Elm, whoſe leaves are thicker, and more florid, glabrous and ſmooth, delighting in the lower and moiſter grounds, where they will ſometimes riſe to above an hundred foot in height; […]
1670, John Evelyn, “. Chapter IV. Of the Elm.”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, →OCLC, page 28[Crotalaria obtecta] Stems tall, erect, branched: stipules not decurrent: leaves simple, usually glabrous on the upper side: […] legumes oblong, many-seeded, glabrous or softly pubescent.
Preliminary Publication of the Flora of the Peninsula of Oriential India
1834, Robert Wight, G[eorge] A[rnott] Walker-Arnott, “Order LVI.—Leguminosæ. Juss.”, in Prodromus Floræ Peninsulæ Indiæ Orientalis: Containing Abridged Descriptions of the Plants Found in the Peninsula of British India, Arranged According to the Natural System [Preliminary Publication of the Flora of the Peninsula of Oriential India], volume I, London: Parbury, Allen, & Co., →OCLC, paragraph 572, page 186'I am bound by precedent,' said the First Lord, turning a vast glabrous expressionless face from Harte to Sir Joseph.
1973, Patrick O’Brian, chapter 1, in HMS Surprise, London: HarperCollinsPublishers, published 2002, →ISBN, page 2The glabrous old head cranks round on him, stiff and slow, until the clouded eyes draw level with his own.
1981, T[homas] Coraghessan Boyle, “Mo O Mo Inta Allo”, in Water Music (The Penguin Contemporary American Fiction Series), New York, N.Y.; London: Penguin Books, published 1983, →ISBN, part 1 (The Niger), page 143Synonyms: calvous · Antonyms: nonglabrous, hairy, hirsute, nonglabrous
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivehaving no hair or similar growth; smooth
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gʰleh₂dʰ-“smooth; bright, shining”
- Latinglaber“smooth; bald, hairless”
- Englishglabrous
From Latin glaber (“smooth; bald, hairless”) + English -ous (suffix forming adjectives, denoting possession or presence of a quality in any degree, commonly in abundance). Glaber is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *gʰleh₂dʰ- (“smooth; bright, shining”), possibly from *ǵʰelh₂- (“to shine”).
More words from Latin, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek λεῖος
- λεῖος (leîos)bald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
Arabic أَمْلَس
- أَمْلَس (ʔamlas)bald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
Bulgarian гладък, неокосмен
- гладък (gladăk)bald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
- неокосмен (neokosmen)bald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
French glabre, glabre
- glabrebald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
- glabrebotany: smooth — see also smooth
Hungarian borotvált, csupasz
- borotváltbald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
- csupaszbald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
- szőrtelenbald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
Italian glabro
- glabrobald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
Latin glaber
- glaberbald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
Polish bezwłosy, łysy
- bezwłosybald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
- łysybald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
- gładkibotany: smooth — see also smooth
Romanian glabru, spân
- glabrubald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
- spânbald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
Spanish glabro, glabrescente
- glabrobald, hairless — see also bald, hairless
- glabrescentebotany: smooth — see also smooth
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with glabrous
All rhymes →Cite this entry
glabrous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glabrous
“glabrous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glabrous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “glabrous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glabrous.
Source: glabrous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.