as in dormant
not being in a state of use, activity, or employment
he has a latent talent for acting that he hasn't had a chance to express yet
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Recent Examples of latent
Other illnesses that weaken the immune system and allow latent TB infections to emerge may also be at play.
—
Mike Stobbe, Chicago Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
Building materials made in factories can contain latent defects.
—Tim Carter, Hartford Courant, 15 Mar. 2025
Wood zooms in on sumptuous but unsettling items whose surfaces can be charged with latent danger.
—Laura Regensdorf Katharine Sohn Laura Bannister Osman Can Yerebakan Shannon Adducci, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2025
Perhaps because the birds had flown north, no one thought at first that this juvenile wanderlust might be an expression of a latent migratory instinct.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for latent
Mike Stobbe, Chicago Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
Building materials made in factories can contain latent defects.
—Tim Carter, Hartford Courant, 15 Mar. 2025
Wood zooms in on sumptuous but unsettling items whose surfaces can be charged with latent danger.
—Laura Regensdorf Katharine Sohn Laura Bannister Osman Can Yerebakan Shannon Adducci, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2025
Perhaps because the birds had flown north, no one thought at first that this juvenile wanderlust might be an expression of a latent migratory instinct.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for latent
Cite this Entry
“Latent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/latent. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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