gossamer

1. 1.

   a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture

   Broadergauze
2. 2.

   filaments from a web that was spun by a spider

   Synonymscobweb

   Broaderfibril

1. 1.

   characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy

   “this smallest and most ethereal of birds”

   “gossamer shading through his playing”

   Synonymsethereal

   Similardelicate
2. 2.

   so thin as to transmit light

   “a hat with a diaphanous veil”

   “filmy wings of a moth”

   “gauzy clouds of dandelion down”

   “gossamer cobwebs”

   “sheer silk stockings”

   “transparent chiffon”

   “vaporous silks”

   Synonymsdiaphanousfilmygauzygauze-likesee-throughsheertransparentvaporousvapourouscobwebby

   Similarthin

Other forms of gossamer

plural

gossamers·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about gossamer

What does gossamer mean?

gossamer means "a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in gossamer?

gossamer has 3 syllables: gos-sa-mer. The stress falls on "gos". In IPA it is /ˈɡɑsəmɚ/.

What is another word for gossamer?

Close synonyms include cobweb, ethereal, diaphanous, filmy, gauzy. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is gossamer a common word?

gossamer is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.