What does "metalloid" mean?

An element, such as silicon or germanium, intermediate in properties between that of a metal and a nonmetal; especially an elemental semiconductor.

What is a synonym for "metalloid"?

Common synonyms include: bullion, metal, metallic, nonmetallic.

//ˈmɛtəlɔɪd// adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
An element, such as silicon or germanium, intermediate in properties between that of a metal and a nonmetal; especially an elemental semiconductor.
2
The metallic base of a fixed alkali, or alkaline earth; applied to sodium, potassium, and some other metallic substances whose metallic character was supposed to be not well defined. obsolete
"By some they [metals of the alkalies] were called metalloids; by some their simple nature was objected to"
3
A nonmetal. obsolete

Adjective

1
Of or relating to the metalloids. not-comparable
2
Characteristic of the metal music genre. informal
"Graham Massey of 808 State turns a Björkian moan into a vibrating siren and powers his strangely metalloid version of "Army Of Me" with it; the Brodsky String Quartet turns "Hyperballad" into a stately 3-D chess game."

Adjective

1
of or being a nonmetallic element that has some of the properties of metal wordnet

"A metalloid is a type of chemical element which has properties in between, or that are a mixture of, those of metals and nonmetals."

From metal + -oid.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.