shadowlike

5.5

Appears dark and faint, like a shape with unclear edges

adjective
/ˈʃædoʊˌlaɪk/

: sombra

His shadowlike figure moved silently across the wall as the sun set.

Examples

They seemed to have shadowlike forms, but he was able to recognize different persons.

Fiction book (1996)
In the dim light of the evening, the trees cast shadowlike shapes on the ground.
The old photograph had a shadowlike quality, making it hard to distinguish the faces.

Synonyms

shadowy

vsshadowlike

18 3.3

A place that is partly dark because of shade

is about faint indistinct appearance rather than physical shade

spectral

vsshadowlike

Literature

5 7.5

Looking like a ghost and causing fear

is more about faint indistinct darkness than eerie supernatural feeling

ghostlike

vsshadowlike

1 6.5

Having a pale, thin, and quiet appearance that feels spooky

is faint and indistinct rather than uncanny or eerily alive

darkish

vsshadowlike

1 2.0

A little less light in color than usual

is milder darkness rather than faint indistinct appearance

phantasmal

vsshadowlike

Literature

1 9.9

Looking like a ghost and seeming unreal

is about faint indistinct appearance rather than imaginative unreality

wraithlike

vsshadowlike

1 9.9

Having a thin, ghostlike appearance

is more about faint indistinct darkness than a thin pale apparition

shadowed

vsshadowlike

3.5

Darker because something blocks the light

is vague and indistinct rather than simply darker in color

umbrageous

vsshadowlike

Literature

9.9

Full of shade from trees

leans toward faint indistinctness rather than formal literary shading

phantomlike

vsshadowlike

7.8

Appears like a ghost, not solid or easy to see

is faint and indistinct rather than mainly unreal or mysterious

Antonyms

distinct

168 3.5

Clearly different from others

clear

40 1.0

Pure and distinct in sound or colour

How Shadowlike

ghostly

40 4.7

shadowy

18 3.3

shadowlike

5.5

indistinct

328 5.3

faint

148 2.7

Surface Forms

shadowlike positive

Morphology

shadowlike = shadow (transparent) = shadow + like

The adjective is straightforwardly formed from the noun 'shadow' plus the productive suffix '-like', meaning 'resembling a shadow'.

Etymology

Shadowlike comes from shadow ('a dark shape made when light is blocked') and the ending -like, which means 'similar to'. So, shadowlike describes something 'similar to a shadow', faint, dark, or hard to see.