Neotenic
adj, noun ·4 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Such an organism
- 1 Exhibiting neoteny not-comparable
"Devils Lake is where I began my career as a limnologist in 1964, studying the lake’s neotenic salamanders and chironomids, or midge flies. […] The Devils Lake Basin is an endorheic, or closed, basin covering about 9,800 square kilometers in northeastern North Dakota."
- 1 of or relating to or characterized by neoteny wordnet
Example
More examples"Many of you like my mother because she is neotenic and has black hair and olive skin tinged with light yellow. She is duplicitous about her Baptist Protestant beliefs, and she does try to understand Buddhism, nevertheless. Born Roman Catholic in the Philippines, she was a genteel woman when she was younger, but in later years in North America, she has become more melancholy and harsh. In later years, she still finds it difficult to control her jealousy and anger."
Etymology
From neoteny + -ic.
Related phrases
More for "neotenic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.