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veinlike

veinlike

6.8
A pattern of thin lines like those on a leaf or in marble
  • adjective
  • /ˈveɪnˌlaɪk/
translation icon : vetado
  • The artist used a veinlike texture in his painting to add depth and complexity to the landscape.

Examples

  • She admired the veinlike design on the leaves, which created intricate shadows on the ground.

  • The marble countertop has beautiful veinlike patterns that resemble flowing water.

  • And then I saw a tiny black thread, horizontal, a hairline fracture dividing time remaining from time spent, unlike the other cracks in the walls, the veinlike fissures that ran through that old house.

    Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

threadlike
vsveinlike
1 4.2

Very thin and long like a single hair

emphasizes branching pattern resemblance rather than simple thin thread shape
veiny
vsveinlike
1 4.3

Having thin lines running through stone like marble or wood

focuses on plain resemblance in pattern rather than color or material contrast
veined
vsveinlike
4.4

Having lines and marks like those on a leaf or marble

is the alternative adjective form used with the same meaning
venose
vsveinlike
  • Specialized
9.9

Having thin lines like the veins in leaves or insect wings

is used for general resemblance across many surfaces not only natural ones
purple-veined
vsveinlike
5.6

Having thin purple lines or streaks on a flower's petals

is used more generally and not limited to purple marks or flowers
veinous
vsveinlike
  • Specialized
8.2

Showing many thin lines like those in leaves or marble

refers to visual resemblance rather than actual physical vessels
veinal
vsveinlike
  • Specialized
9.9

About the veins in a plant's leaves or stem

focuses on visual pattern rather than plant internal structure or disease
venular
vsveinlike
  • Specialized
9.8

Describing small veins that carry blood back to the heart

refers to general branching markings rather than tiny anatomical vessels

How Veined

marbled
1 4.4
veiny
2 3.9
veinlike
6.8
streaked
2.7
plain
50 2.5

Surface Forms

veinlike positive

Morphology

veinlike = vein (transparent) = vein + like

Formed by the productive adjective-forming suffix '-like' added to the noun 'vein', meaning 'resembling a vein'.

Etymology

Veinlike comes from the simple word vein, from old Latin vena meaning 'tube' or 'vein', and the ending -like, which means 'similar'. So veinlike means 'similar to a vein', and we use it for thin, branching lines you see in leaves, marble, or insect wings.