Meanings
comparative more porous · superlative most porous
- Full of tiny pores that allow fluids or gasses to pass through.
Concrete is porous, so water will slowly filter through it.
1 more example
Sponges are porous so they can filter water while trapping food.
Synonyms: permeable
- figurativelyWith many gaps or loopholes.
[…] a porous border consequently positioned migrants from Mexico and ethnic Mexicans residing in the United States as potential terrorists.
2012, Miguel Antonio Levario, Militarizing the Border: When Mexicans Became the Enemy, page 1251 more example
However, Wolves ^([sic]) porous defence opened up again to gift Sunderland a foothold in the game - Sessegnon sweeping in a Zenden corner that was inexplicably allowed to bounce in the six-yard box.
2011 May 14, Peter Scrivener, “Sunderland 1 - 3 Wolverhampton”, in BBC Sport
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveFull of tiny pores that allow fluids or gasses to pass through.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveable to absorb fluids
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinporus“an opening”
- Old Frenchporos
- Englishporous
From Old French poros, from Latin porus (“an opening”). By surface analysis, pore + -ous.
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek χαῦνος, σομφός
- χαῦνος (khaûnos)full of tiny pores
- σομφός (somphós)full of tiny pores
- πολύτρητος (polútrētos)full of tiny pores
Arabic مَسَامِّيّ
- مَسَامِّيّ (masāmmiyy)full of tiny pores
Bulgarian порест
- порест (porest)full of tiny pores
Catalan porós
- porósfull of tiny pores
Chinese Mandarin 多孔的
- 多孔的 (duōkǒng de)full of tiny pores
Danish porøs
- porøsfull of tiny pores
Dutch poreus
- poreusfull of tiny pores
Esperanto pora
- porafull of tiny pores
Estonian poorne, urbne
- poornefull of tiny pores
- urbnefull of tiny pores
Finnish huokoinen
- huokoinenfull of tiny pores
French poreux
- poreuxfull of tiny pores
German porös
- porösfull of tiny pores
Greek πορώδης
- πορώδης (poródis)full of tiny pores
Indonesian porus
- porusfull of tiny pores
Italian poroso
- porosofull of tiny pores
Japanese 多孔質の, 多孔の
- 多孔質の (takōshitsu no)full of tiny pores
- 多孔の (takō no)full of tiny pores
Latin porōsus, multicavus
- porōsusfull of tiny pores
- multicavusfull of tiny pores
Malay ڤوروس
- ڤوروس (poros)full of tiny pores
Māori pōareare, koropungapunga
- pōarearefull of tiny pores
- koropungapungafull of tiny pores
Norwegian Bokmål porøs
- porøsfull of tiny pores
Persian متخلخل
- متخلخل (motexalxel)full of tiny pores
Polish porowaty
- porowatyfull of tiny pores
Portuguese poroso
- porosofull of tiny pores
Russian по́ристый
- по́ристый (póristyj)full of tiny pores
Spanish poroso
- porosofull of tiny pores
Swedish porös
- porösfull of tiny pores
Tagalog malabuga
- malabugafull of tiny pores
Turkish gözenekli
- gözeneklifull of tiny pores
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with porous
Cite this entry
porous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/porous
“porous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/porous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “porous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/porous.
Source: porous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.