spinifex

S1P3I1N1I1F4E1X8

noun

Any of numerous species of grass in genus Spinifex, growing in sand dunes.

UncommonScrabble 20

Meanings

nounspinifex (countable and uncountable, plural spinifexes)

plural spinifexes

  1. countableuncountableAny of numerous species of grass in genus Spinifex, growing in sand dunes.
  2. AustraliacountableuncountableAny of several spiny grass species of the genus Triodia, endemic to arid outback Australia.
    1 more example

    And there will be Ethel watching, just standing there, stirring something on the kitchen stove, or dusting the mahogany sideboard, or polishing the silver, and looking out the window, staring, just staring, as though she were watching the spinifex growing, or the sky hanging there, just staring with that terrible effrontery of someone who will not deign to react.

    1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, Virago Press, paperback edition, page 269
adjectivespinifex (comparative more spinifex, superlative most spinifex)

comparative more spinifex · superlative most spinifex

  1. chemistryComposed of dendritic plates, which present as the scored texture of bundled, spine-like structures typical of komatiites.

Origin

  1. Latinfacere“to make”
  2. Latin-fex“maker”
  3. Latinspina“spine”
  4. translingualSpinifex
  5. Englishspinifex

From translingual Spinifex (genus name), from Latin spina (“spine”) + Latin -fex (“maker”) (from Latin facere (“to make”)).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Māori turikākoa
  • turikākoacoastal grass
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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