Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Resembling a star in appearance, shape, or quality: Having characteristics similar to those of a celestial star, often implying a radiant, pointed, or luminous quality.
   • Arranged or shaped like a star: Having a form with points or rays extending from a center, similar to the common depiction of a star.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The artist drew a starlike flower with five pointed petals.
  • Through the telescope, we observed a distant, starlike point of light.
  • The crystal had a beautiful, starlike structure when viewed under the microscope.

Advanced Usage

• In Botany: Used to describe flowers or plants with a radial shape resembling a star.
  • The plant is known for its small, starlike white blossoms.
• In Mathematics/Geometry: Describing a shape or graph with a central point and radiating lines.
  • The network formed a starlike pattern, with all connections leading to a central hub.

Variants and Related Words

• Stellar (adj): Of or relating to stars. (e.g., ).
• Star-shaped (adj): Having the shape of a star. This is a more common synonym for the physical shape meaning.
• Asteroid (n): A small rocky body orbiting the sun. The root "aster" means star, and these were originally called "starlike" planets.

Synonyms

• Star-shaped
• Radiate
• Stelliform (formal)

Antonyms

• Amorphous (shapeless)
• Formless

Related Phrases/Idioms

(Note: "Starlike" itself is not commonly used in standard English idioms. The related word "star" is used instead.) - To see stars: To see flashes of light, often from being hit on the head. - Written in the stars: Destined to happen.

Adjective

1. resembling a star
   • they saw a starlike object in the sky