What does "rugate" mean?

Having alternate ridges and depressions; wrinkled.

What is a synonym for "rugate"?

Common synonyms include: bewrinkled, crumpled, purfly, rugose, rumpled, wrinkled.

//ˈɹuːɡeɪt// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Adjective

1
Having alternate ridges and depressions; wrinkled.
"Unifacial, superior surface transversely rugate, with minute oririmes at the bottom of the furrows"
2
Having a varying refractive index.
"Rugate coatings typically consist of a single layer deposited onto a substrate where the refractive index of the layer continuously changes as a function of depth."

"Unifacial, superior surface transversely rugate, with minute oririmes at the bottom of the furrows"

From Latin rugatus, past participle of rugare (“to wrinkle”), from ruga (“a wrinkle”).

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