amphiphilic
amphiphilic adjective: being a detergent: having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic (or lipophilic) groups.
Adjective
amphiphilic (comparative more amphiphilic, superlative most amphiphilic)
- Being a detergent: having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic (or lipophilic) groups.
- Sequential living polymerizations of hydrophilic and hydrophobic vinyl ethers from these trifunctional initiators give amphiphilic triarmed block copolymers where the hydrophilic segments may be placed either inner or outer layer of the three arms.1997, Hatada, Macromolecular Design of Polymeric Materials, →ISBN, page 45
- Having one surface consisting of hydrophilic amino acids and the opposite surface consisting of hydrophobic (or lipophilic) ones.
Forms of amphiphilic
| comparative | more amphiphilic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most amphiphilic |
Origin of amphiphilic
From amphi- + -philic.
Words formed from amphiphilic
Questions about amphiphilic
- What does amphiphilic mean?
- Amphiphilic means being a detergent: having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic (or lipophilic) groups.
- What part of speech is amphiphilic?
- Amphiphilic is an adjective.
Words near amphiphilic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: amphiphilic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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