What does "poikilothermic" mean?

Having a body temperature that varies depending on the outside temperature.

Poikilothermic

Q: What is a synonym for "poikilothermic"?

Common synonyms include: poikilothermous, cold blooded, cold-blooded, ectothermic, heterothermic, poikilotherm.

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1
Having a body temperature that varies depending on the outside temperature. not-comparable

Adjective

1
of animals except birds and mammals; having body temperature that varies with the environment wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

poikilothermous cold blooded cold-blooded ectothermic heterothermic poikilotherm

Antonyms

All antonyms

homeothermic homothermic

Example

More examples

"Amphibians, which include frogs, toads, and salamanders, are cold-blooded, or poikilothermic, meaning they regulate their body temperature through external sources rather than by internal metabolism."

Etymology

From poikilo- + -thermic.

Related phrases

body temperature

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