Gossamer
adjective / noun /ˈɡɒsəmə/ — Light, delicate, and almost translucent — as fine as a spider's web.
Definition
As fine as gossamer thread — the silken, barely-there quality of fabric, light, or thought that seems almost to exist only in suggestion, as though the next breeze might disperse it entirely.
Beyond the definition
There are feelings that only gossamer can describe: the memory of a dream already fading, the light through gauze curtains, the first layer of fondness before it becomes love. Gossamer is the word for things too fine to hold.
Origin & history
Middle English: possibly from 'goose summer' — Indian summer, when gossamer threads floated on warm autumn air. One of English's most evocative etymologies.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The gossamer curtains moved in the breeze like something breathing.
Her prose had a gossamer quality — weightless and present at once.
Memory, like gossamer, is most visible when the light hits it at the right angle.
How to use it
Follow this entry’s examples for grammatical form and sentence placement.
Choose “Gossamer” when the meaning fits your context: As fine as gossamer thread — the silken, barely-there quality of fabric, light, or thought that seems almost to exist only in suggestion, as though the next breeze might disperse it entirely.
Synonyms
diaphanous, filmy, sheer, delicate, translucent
Antonyms
heavy, solid, dense
Related words
Word in the Wild
Illustrative story: an imagined scene, not a documented event or interview.
She was packing up her mother's house when she found the letters — not tied with ribbon, just stacked, held together by years of being in the same place.
The paper was so thin she could almost see through it. Each page had been written in a hand she recognised from birthday cards, from shopping lists, from the backs of photographs. Her mother at nineteen, writing to someone she had never mentioned.
She held the letters for a long time without opening them. Some things are too fragile to handle carelessly. She sat down, carefully, and began.
Questions about this word
What does "Gossamer" mean?
Gossamer is adjective / noun meaning: Light, delicate, and almost translucent — as fine as a spider's web.. As fine as gossamer thread — the silken, barely-there quality of fabric, light, or thought that seems almost to exist only in suggestion, as though the next breeze might disperse it entirely.
Where does the word "Gossamer" come from?
Middle English: possibly from 'goose summer' — Indian summer, when gossamer threads floated on warm autumn air. One of English's most evocative etymologies.