gossamer(s = adj.all) ethereal - characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy; "this smallest and most ethereal of birds"; "gossamer shading through his playing"

Derived forms noun gossamer₂, noun gossamer₁

gossamer(s = adj.all) cobwebby, diaphanous, filmy, gauze-like, gauzy, see-through, sheer, transparent, vaporous, vapourous - 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"

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CIDE DICTIONARY

gossamer, n. [OE. gossomer, gossummer, gosesomer, perh. for goose summer, from its downy appearance, or perh. for God's summer, cf. G. mariengarr gossamer, properly Mary's yarn, in allusion to the Virgin Mary. Perhaps the E. word alluded to a legend that the gossamer was the remnant of the Virgin Mary's winding sheet, which dropped from her when she was taken up to heaven. For the use of summer in the sense of film or threads, cf. G. Mädchensommer, Altweibersommer, fliegender Sommer, all meaning, gossamer.].

A fine, filmy substance, like cobwebs, floating in the air, in calm, clear weather, especially in autumn. It is seen in stubble fields and on furze or low bushes, and is formed by small spiders. [1913 Webster]
Any very thin gauzelike fabric; also, a thin waterproof stuff. [1913 Webster]
An outer garment, made of waterproof gossamer. [1913 Webster]

Gossamer spider (Zoöl.), any small or young spider which spins webs by which to sail in the air. See Ballooning spider.

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

gossamer, n. & adj.
--n.
1 a filmy substance of small spiders' webs.
2 delicate filmy material.
3 a thread of gossamer.
--adj. light and flimsy as gossamer.

Derivative

gossamered adj. gossamery adj.

Etymology

ME gos(e)somer(e), app. f. GOOSE + SUMMER(1) (goose summer = St Martin's summer, i.e. early November when geese were eaten, gossamer being common then)

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THESAURUS

gossamer

air, airy, animal fiber, artificial fiber, attenuate, attenuated, boyish, bubble, cambric tea, capillament, chaff, chip, cilium, cirrus, clear, clear as crystal, cobweb, cork, crystal, crystal-clear, crystalline, dainty, delicate, denier, diaphane, diaphanous, diluted, dishwater, down, downy, dust, ether, ethereal, fairy, feather, fiber, fibrilla, filament, filamentule, filmy, fine, fine-drawn, fine-grained, finespun, flagellum, flimsy, flue, fluff, fluffy, foam, frail, froth, fuzz, fuzzy, gauzy, girlish, gossamery, gracile, gruel, hair, hank, house of cards, insubstantial, lacy, light, light-pervious, limpid, lucid, matchwood, milk and water, misty, mote, nonopaque, papery, peekaboo, pellucid, pubescent, rare, rarefied, reed, refined, revealing, rope of sand, sand castle, satin, satiny, see-through, sheer, silky, skein, slender, slenderish, slight, slight-made, slim, slimmish, slinky, small, smooth, sponge, spume, strand, straw, subtle, suture, svelte, sylphlike, tendril, tenuous, thin, thin-bodied, thin-set, thin-spun, thinnish, thistledown, thread, threadlet, threadlike, transparent, transpicuous, unclouded, vague, velutinous, velvety, wasp-waisted, water, watered, watered-down, watery, weak, web, willowy, wiredrawn, wispy

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ROGET THESAURUS

gossamer

Thinness

N narrowness, thinness, narrowness, closeness, exility, exiguity, line, hair's breadth, finger's breadth, strip, streak, vein, monolayer, epitaxial deposition, thinness, tenuity, emaciation, macilency, marcor, shaving, slip, thread paper, skeleton, shadow, anatomy, spindleshanks, lantern jaws, mere skin and bone, middle constriction, stricture, neck, waist, isthmus, wasp, hourglass, ridge, ghaut, ghat, pass, ravine, narrowing, coarctation, angustation, tapering, contraction, narrow, close, slender, thin, fine, thread-like, finespun, gossamer, paper-thin, taper, slim, slight-made, scant, scanty, spare, delicate, incapacious, contracted, unexpanded &c (expand), slender as a thread, emaciated, lean, meager, gaunt, macilent, lank, lanky, weedy, skinny, scrawny slinky, starved, starveling, herring gutted, worn to a shadow, lean as a rake, thin as a lath, thin as a whipping post, thin as a wafer, hatchet-faced, lantern-jawed, attenuated, shriveled, extenuated, tabid, marcid, barebone, rawboned, monomolecular.

Filament

N filament, line, fiber, fibril, funicle, vein, hair, capillament, cilium, cilia, pilus, pili, tendril, gossamer, hair stroke, veinlet, venula, venule, wire, string, thread, packthread, cotton, sewing silk, twine, twist, whipcord, tape, ribbon, cord, rope, yarn, hemp, oakum, jute, strip, shred, slip, spill, list, band, fillet, fascia, ribbon, riband, roll, lath, splinter, shiver, shaving, beard, ramification, strand, filamentous, filamentiferous, filaceous, filiform, fibrous, fibrillous, thread-like, wiry, stringy, ropy, capillary, capilliform, funicular, wire-drawn, anguilliform, flagelliform, hairy, taeniate, taeniform, taenioid, venose, venous.

Levity

N levity, lightness, imponderability, buoyancy, volatility, feather, dust, mote, down, thistle, down, flue, cobweb, gossamer, straw, cork, bubble, balloon, float, buoy, ether, air, leaven, ferment, barm, yeast, lighter-than-air balloon, helium balloon, hydrogen balloon, hot air balloon, convection, thermal draft, thermal, light, subtile, airy, imponderous, imponderable, astatic, weightless, ethereal, sublimated, gossamery, suberose, suberous, uncompressed, volatile, buoyant, floating, portable, light as a feather, light as a thistle, light as air, lighter than air, rise like a balloon, float like a balloon.

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