Thistledown
noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The soft, feathery pappus attached to the seeds of a thistle. uncountable, usually
"Yet, let me not reproach myself, since the blame is due to her lightness of heart, her fickle fancy—no stabler than gossamer or thistledown—which the first wanton breath wafts elsewhere."
- 2 pappus of a thistle consisting of silky featherlike hairs attached to the seed-like fruit of a thistle wordnet
Example
More examples"Yet, let me not reproach myself, since the blame is due to her lightness of heart, her fickle fancy—no stabler than gossamer or thistledown—which the first wanton breath wafts elsewhere."
Etymology
From thistle + down.
More for "thistledown"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.