Prehensile

//pɹɪˈhɛn.saɪl// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Able to take hold of and clasp objects; adapted for grasping especially by wrapping around an object. not-comparable

    "Some monkeys have prehensile tails which they use to pick things up."

Adjective
  1. 1
    immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth wordnet
  2. 2
    adapted for grasping especially by wrapping around an object wordnet
  3. 3
    having a keen intellect wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
intelligentacquisitiveall-knowingapperceptiveappercipientapprehending

Example

More examples

"Giraffes have tough prehensile tongues."

Etymology

Borrowed from French préhensile, from Latin perfect passive participle prehēnsus, from prehendō (“grasp, seize”) + adjective suffix -ile, from Latin -ilis.

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