tomentous

9.9

Covered in many short, woolly hairs on a leaf or stem

adjective
/təˈmɛn.təs/

Specialized

: tomentoso

The underside of the leaf is tomentous, giving it a soft, silvery appearance.

Examples

Several alpine plants possess tomentous stems to help protect them from cold winds.
The botanist noted the tomentous texture on the plant sample's surface under her microscope.
The tomentous leaves of the plant trap moisture.
A tomentous texture is often found in certain ferns.
The underside of the leaf is tomentous, giving it a soft, silvery appearance.
Several alpine plants possess tomentous stems to help protect them from cold winds.
The botanist noted the tomentous texture on the plant sample's surface under her microscope.

Synonyms

fuzzy

vstomentous

44 1.1

Covered with soft light hairs like kitten fur

indicates much denser, closely matted woolly hair rather than light fluff

hoary

vstomentous

Specialized

1 9.8

Covered with fine white hairs, usually on plants or animals

refers to dense short matted woolly hairs rather than fine whitish down

tomentose

vstomentous

Specialized

9.9

Covered in thick, soft hairs like short wool on leaves or stems

is about dense matted hair specifically on surfaces like leaves or stems

woolly-haired

vstomentous

5.1

Having thick, curly or matted hair like wool

is focused on short, closely matted woolly hairs on plant surfaces

How Fuzzy

tomentous

Specialized

9.9

woolly

12 3.0

hairy

134 1.0

pubescent

Specialized

7.7

Surface Forms

tomentous positive

Morphology

tomentous = tomentum (opaque) = toment + ous

Although formed by a regular suffixation from 'tomentum', both the base and the adjective are rare botanical terms and not accessible to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Tomentous comes from the Latin word tomentum, which means 'padding' or 'wool', and the ending -ous meaning 'full of'. So, a tomentous leaf is 'full of' soft, woolly hairs that make it feel fuzzy and help protect the plant.