Word.ws English Dictionary

crypsis

/ˈkɹɪpsɪs/

crypsis noun: the ability of an organism to avoid observation.

Noun

crypsis (uncountable)

  1. The ability of an organism to avoid observation.
    • Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close[…]above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to...2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7

Origin of crypsis

Probably directly from Ancient Greek κρύψις (krúpsis, “hiding, concealment”); compare Latin crypsis. Doublet of krypsis.

Questions about crypsis

What does crypsis mean?
Crypsis means the ability of an organism to avoid observation.
What part of speech is crypsis?
Crypsis is a noun.
How do you pronounce crypsis?
Crypsis is pronounced /ˈkɹɪpsɪs/.

Words near crypsis in the dictionary

  1. cryovolcanoes
  2. cryovolcanos
  3. cryphonectriaceous
  4. cryppie
  5. cryppies
  6. crypsis
  7. crypt
  8. crypt of Lieberkühn
  9. crypt-
  10. cryptacanthodid
  11. cryptacanthodids

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: crypsis (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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