amorphous shape
1
6.7
- noun
- /əˈmɔr.fəs ʃeɪp/
- The artist's latest painting features vibrant colors and fluid, amorphous shapes that seem to dance across the canvas.
Examples
-
He saw yellow and purple amorphous shapes.
Fiction book (2001) -
The Glob had an amorphous shape and a bland color and texture.
Academic text (2012) -
Merely an amorphous shape at first, which slowly became more defined as the xandu galloped closer.
Fiction book (1991) -
The humped, amorphous shapes of trees along the high ground were only a shade blacker.
Fiction book (1992) -
In the misty forest, he could only distinguish an amorphous shape lurking behind the trees.
-
As the fog rolled in, the amorphous shapes of the distant hills became indistinct shadows against the gray sky.
Synonyms
1
7.2
The state of having no clear shape or structure
1
7.8
A quality of having no clear shape, form, or character
1
6.1
A lack of any clear form, for example in ideas or art
How Amorphous
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'amorphous' means lacking a defined form and 'shape' means form or outline, so together they yield 'a shape lacking clear structure' without any idiomatic shift. This adjective + noun pattern is standard and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Amorphous shape comes from the simple image of a soft blob, like a cloud or a puddle, that has no clear edges and keeps changing. The word amorphous means 'without a clear form' and shape is the form, so this image explains why the phrase means 'a shape that lacks a clear structure or definition'.