xerophyte

X8E1R1O1P3H4Y4T1E1
/ˈzɪəɹəʊfaɪt/

noun

Any plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce, such as in a desert or chaparral. Such plants may be succulent, have small or reduced leaves, or spines.

Similar
xeric plantdesert plantxerophytic plantxerophilexerophilous plant
Scrabble 24
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounxerophyte (plural xerophytes)

plural xerophytes

  1. biologyAny plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce, such as in a desert or chaparral. Such plants may be succulent, have small or reduced leaves, or spines.
  2. A desert plant

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
xeric plant

nounplant adapted for life with a limited supply of water; compare hydrophyte and mesophyte

Similar
desert plantxerophytic plantxerophilexerophilous plant
Broader
vascular planttracheophyte
Also see
xerophile

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From xero- (“dry”) + -phyte (“plant”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 旱生植物
  • 旱生植物 (hànshēng zhíwù)botany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Danish xerofyt
  • xerofytbotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Dutch xerofyt
  • xerofytbotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Finnish kuivakkokasvi, kserofyytti
  • kuivakkokasvibotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
  • kserofyyttibotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
French xérophyte
  • xérophytebotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
German Xerophyt
  • Xerophytbotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Irish xéirifít
  • xéirifítbotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Italian xerobio, xerofita
  • xerobiobotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
  • xerofitabotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Malay xerofit
  • xerofitbotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Polish kserofit
  • kserofitbotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Russian ксерофи́т
  • ксерофи́т (kserofít)botany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Spanish xerófita
  • xerófitabotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Swedish xerofyt
  • xerofytbotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Tagalog halamang tuyuin
  • halamang tuyuinbotany: a plant suited for life in a habitat where water is scarce
Cite this entry
APA

xerophyte. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/xerophyte

MLA

“xerophyte.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/xerophyte. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “xerophyte,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/xerophyte.

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