billowlike

Billowlike is an English adjective used to describe something that resembles a billow—a large swelling mass that rises, rolls, or bulges in response to air or movement. The descriptor emphasizes softness, volume, and a rounded, wave-like contour.

Common applications include natural and produced phenomena such as billowlike clouds, billowlike plumes of smoke, or the upward curling of a flame. It is also used in describing textiles or drapery that billows in a breeze, or architectural forms that suggest wind-driven mass. In literary and visual arts criticism, the term conveys a sense of buoyant movement and ample form without implying a literal billow.

Originating from the noun billow, the term is often hyphenated as billow-like, though billowlike appears in many contemporary texts. It is primarily a descriptive, non-technical word, used when the author seeks a vivid, imagery-rich portrayal rather than scientific specificity.

Related terms include billowy and billowing, which share the same semantic field; billow-like can be substituted with more precise terms in technical writing when appropriate.