colloidal

American

[kuh-loid-l] / kəˈlɔɪd l /

adjective

Physical Chemistry.

pertaining to or of the nature of a colloid.

colloidal gold and silver.

colloidal British

/ ˌkɒˈlɔɪdəl, ˌkɒlɔɪˈdælɪtɪ /

adjective

of, denoting, or having the character of a colloid

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

colloidality noun
colloidally adverb
noncolloidal adjective
semicolloidal adjective

Etymology

Origin of colloidal

First recorded in 1860–65; colloid + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Light programmable colloidal crystals may eventually enable reconfigurable optical coatings, adaptive sensors, and next generation display and data storage technologies, where patterns and functions are defined dynamically by illumination rather than fixed during manufacturing.

From Science Daily • Mar. 2, 2026

The researchers introduced light sensitive molecules known as photoacids into a liquid containing colloidal particles.

From Science Daily • Mar. 2, 2026

Physicists at Leipzig University have now created a type of neural network that works not with electricity but with so-called active colloidal particles.

From Science Daily • Jan. 29, 2024

Gwyneth Paltrow once told Dr. Oz that colloidal silver “really keeps viruses away.”

From Salon • Jan. 7, 2024

They are, in fact, periodic precipitates of phosphate and carbonate of lime deposited in the colloidal organic substance of the mollusc.

From The Mechanism of Life by Leduc, Stéphane

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023