pendulous

[ pen-juh-luhs, pen-duh- ]
See synonyms for pendulous on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. hanging down loosely: pendulous blossoms.

  2. swinging freely; oscillating.

  1. vacillating or undecided; wavering.

Origin of pendulous

1
First recorded in 1595–1605, pendulous is from the Latin word pendulus hanging, swinging. See pend, -ulous

Other words for pendulous

Other words from pendulous

  • pen·du·lous·ly, adverb
  • pen·du·lous·ness, noun
  • sem·i·pen·du·lous, adjective
  • sem·i·pen·du·lous·ly, adverb
  • sem·i·pen·du·lous·ness, noun
  • un·pen·du·lous, adjective
  • un·pen·du·lous·ly, adverb
  • un·pen·du·lous·ness, noun

Words Nearby pendulous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pendulous in a sentence

  • The tail is white, short and pendulous, but does not descend lower than the thighs.

    Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
  • The bird unfolded its wings, and arose in flight; then slowly circled round the pendulous globe.

    Rookwood | William Harrison Ainsworth
  • Below a flattened, shapeless wedge of nose, his thick pendulous lips worked in and out in worried and laborious thought.

    Warrior of the Dawn | Howard Carleton Browne
  • In despairing rapture I clutched after a neck ornament hung with pendulous pearls as large as plums.

    Us and the Bottleman | Edith Ballinger Price
  • He lost flesh everywhere except around the waist, so that his belly, hitherto inconspicuous, looked almost pendulous.

    The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte | William Milligan Sloane

British Dictionary definitions for pendulous

pendulous

/ (ˈpɛndjʊləs) /


adjective
  1. hanging downwards, esp so as to swing from side to side

Origin of pendulous

1
C17: from Latin pendulus, from pendēre to hang down

Derived forms of pendulous

  • pendulously, adverb
  • pendulousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012