Vestigial
adjective
Small and unused part in something, which was larger and used in the past.
Our appendix is a vestigial organ that no longer serves any purpose for our body.
Often appears as...
- vestigial organ
- vestigial structure
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
adjective
Something that exists, but is no longer useful or needed.
Cell phones have made pay phones mostly vestigial in modern society.
Often appears as...
- vestigial feature
- vestigial remnant
adjective
Referring to an organ or part which is greatly reduced from the original ancestral form and is usually nonfunctioning.
In some species, males have vestigial hip bones, indicating they evolved from ancestors that had legs.
Often appears as...
- vestigial hip
- vestigial limb
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
adjective
Small and unused part in something, which was larger and used in the past.
Our appendix is a vestigial organ that no longer serves any purpose for our body.
Often appears as...
- vestigial organ
- vestigial structure
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
adjective
Something that exists, but is no longer useful or needed.
Cell phones have made pay phones mostly vestigial in modern society.
Often appears as...
- vestigial feature
- vestigial remnant
adjective
Referring to an organ or part which is greatly reduced from the original ancestral form and is usually nonfunctioning.
In some species, males have vestigial hip bones, indicating they evolved from ancestors that had legs.
Often appears as...
- vestigial hip
- vestigial limb
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Size Implication
Vestigial often implies something was bigger or more important in the past.
The deserted shopping mall stands as a vestigial monument of consumerism.
Pro Tip 2/3Evolutionary Trace
Used in biology to describe parts that have declined in size and function.
Whales have vestigial leg bones, remnants of their walking ancestors.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Useless
Although usually non-functional, vestigial items can sometimes have new uses.
The pigeon's vestigial toes are used for balance rather than grasping.
Pro Tip 1/3Size Implication
Vestigial often implies something was bigger or more important in the past.
The deserted shopping mall stands as a vestigial monument of consumerism.
Pro Tip 2/3Evolutionary Trace
Used in biology to describe parts that have declined in size and function.
Whales have vestigial leg bones, remnants of their walking ancestors.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Useless
Although usually non-functional, vestigial items can sometimes have new uses.
The pigeon's vestigial toes are used for balance rather than grasping.
Pro Tip 1/3Size Implication
Vestigial often implies something was bigger or more important in the past.
The deserted shopping mall stands as a vestigial monument of consumerism.
Pro Tip 2/3Evolutionary Trace
Used in biology to describe parts that have declined in size and function.
Whales have vestigial leg bones, remnants of their walking ancestors.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Useless
Although usually non-functional, vestigial items can sometimes have new uses.
The pigeon's vestigial toes are used for balance rather than grasping.
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Video examples
Why do we hiccup? - John...
Do such structures serve some hidden function that hasn't yet been discovered? Or are they relics of our evolutionary past, having once served some important purpose only to persist into the present as vestigial remnants? One idea is that hiccups began
Video examples
The mathematician who...
not beautifully, but it would work. You'd make money, you'd lose money, you'd make money. But this is a year's worth of days, and you'd make a little money during that period. It's a very vestigial system.
Video examples
Why do we hiccup? - John...
Do such structures serve some hidden function that hasn't yet been discovered? Or are they relics of our evolutionary past, having once served some important purpose only to persist into the present as vestigial remnants? One idea is that hiccups began
Video examples
The mathematician who...
not beautifully, but it would work. You'd make money, you'd lose money, you'd make money. But this is a year's worth of days, and you'd make a little money during that period. It's a very vestigial system.
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Edward Zwick
American Director
I'm always interested in the ways in which a character can inhabit either a theme or a premise personally, so that those scenes that are about his character or his relationship with other characters feel in context and don't seem to be apart from or oddly vestigial to the actual drama.
Quote examples
Rob Sheffield
American Journalist
But MTV relishes its vestigial role as a star maker, so every year it puts all its clout into making the VMAs the biggest, splashiest, loudest show-biz extravaganza of the year, honoring all this music for existing, after a year of paying barely any attention to it.
Quote examples
P. J. O'Rourke
American Comedian
Supposedly, summer vacation happens because that's when the kids are home from school, although having the kids home from school is no vacation. And supposedly the kids are home from school because of some vestigial throwback to our agricultural past.
Quote examples
Don Winslow
American Author
The novelist is the vestigial bone on the body cinema. We're like the little toe that can be cut off.
Quote examples
Edward Zwick
American Director
I'm always interested in the ways in which a character can inhabit either a theme or a premise personally, so that those scenes that are about his character or his relationship with other characters feel in context and don't seem to be apart from or oddly vestigial to the actual drama.
Quote examples
Rob Sheffield
American Journalist
But MTV relishes its vestigial role as a star maker, so every year it puts all its clout into making the VMAs the biggest, splashiest, loudest show-biz extravaganza of the year, honoring all this music for existing, after a year of paying barely any attention to it.
Quote examples
P. J. O'Rourke
American Comedian
Supposedly, summer vacation happens because that's when the kids are home from school, although having the kids home from school is no vacation. And supposedly the kids are home from school because of some vestigial throwback to our agricultural past.
Quote examples
Don Winslow
American Author
The novelist is the vestigial bone on the body cinema. We're like the little toe that can be cut off.
Example 1 of 4
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