dimorphic

adjective

di·​mor·​phic (ˌ)dī-ˈmȯr-fik 

1

a

: dimorphous sense 1

b

: occurring in two distinct forms

dimorphic leaves

sexually dimorphic coloration in birds

2

: combining qualities of two kinds of individuals in one

Did you know?

Dimorphism varies greatly in the animal kingdom. Among mammals, the male is generally larger than the female, but other differences in appearance tend to be modest. But birds are usually noticeably dimorphic, with the male being the more colorful sex; when we imagine a pheasant, a mallard, a cardinal, or a peacock, we're almost always picturing the male rather than the female. Among spiders the situation is often reversed. The golden orb-weaver spider, for example, is spectacularly dimorphic: the female may be 20 times the size of the male, and she usually ends up eating him, sometimes even while he's mating with her. Many sea creatures, including many fish, take care of gender problems by simply changing from one sex into the other.

Examples of dimorphic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The leaves are dimorphic, with the sterile fronds being heart-shaped and the fertile ones resembling arrowheads. —Dawn Pettinelli, Hartford Courant, 7 Feb. 2024

Enlarge / Histoplasma capsulatum is a species of parasitic, yeast-like dimorphic fungus that can, if inhaled, cause a type of lung infection called histoplasmosis. —Mark Takahashi, Ars Technica, 27 Sep. 2023

However, these behaviors have only been tested in a handful of size dimorphic spiders. —Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 15 Dec. 2017

That variability itself and the behavioral overlap between the sexes—aggressive females and empathetic males and even men and women who display both traits—suggest that brains cannot be lumped into one of two distinct, or dimorphic, categories. —Lydia Denworth, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2017

The canines are sexually dimorphic, being larger in males. —Darren Naish, Scientific American Blog Network, 3 June 2017

How will understanding the role of doublesex in sexually dimorphic insect traits help us understand phenotypic variation in other animals, even humans? —Smithsonian, 22 Mar. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Medical Definition

dimorphic

adjective

di·​mor·​phic (ˈ)dī-ˈmȯr-fik 

1

: dimorphous sense 1

2

: occurring in two distinct forms