Thickening

//ˈθɪkənɪŋ// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The process of making something, or becoming, thick or viscous. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    the act of thickening wordnet
  3. 3
    A substance, usually a source of starch, used to thicken a sauce. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    any thickened enlargement wordnet
  5. 5
    A thickened part of a structure. countable, uncountable

    "[…] the inner layer (of nearly equally large cells) lacks the regular semiannular or annular thickenings of most other leafy liverworts […]"

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    any material used to thicken wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of thicken form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
  1. 1
    Beginning to thicken, becoming thicker. not-comparable

    "From Keighley onwards we had obviously returned to civilisation, for the surrounding country was now studded with the sodium street lights of suburbia and a thickening industrial haze was blotting out the moon."

Adjective
  1. 1
    accumulating and becoming more intense wordnet
  2. 2
    becoming more intricate or complex wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
adhesivenessclabberingclamminessclottingcoagulationcolloidality

Example

More examples

"The fog was thickening quickly."

Etymology

From thicken + -ing.

Related phrases

shear-thickeningthickening agentthickening layerthickening ringthickening time

More for "thickening"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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