: present and capable of emerging or developing but not now visible, obvious, active, or symptomatic
a latent infection
latently
adverb
: a fingerprint (as at the scene of a crime) that is scarcely visible but can be developed for study
called also latent fingerprint, latent print
Synonyms
Examples of latent in a Sentence
Adjective
On the ground in Afghanistan there is some latent, if wary, gratitude for American aid over the years, but no one expects to build a foundation for the Taliban's downfall on a couple of million rice cakes.
—
Michael Duffy, Time, 15 Oct. 2001
There were such inexhaustible possibilities still before her, such opportunities to bring out the latent graces of the old place, without a single irreverent touch of alteration, that the winter months were all too short to plan what spring and autumn executed.
—Edith Wharton, Afterward, 1910
Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active now, in this unfortunate old man, which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, 1850
he has a latent talent for acting that he hasn't had a chance to express yet
Michael Duffy, Time, 15 Oct. 2001
There were such inexhaustible possibilities still before her, such opportunities to bring out the latent graces of the old place, without a single irreverent touch of alteration, that the winter months were all too short to plan what spring and autumn executed.
—Edith Wharton, Afterward, 1910
Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active now, in this unfortunate old man, which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, 1850
he has a latent talent for acting that he hasn't had a chance to express yet
Recent Examples on the WebMike Stobbe, The Denver Post, 30 Mar. 2024
When Moura was filming in Atlanta two years ago, the stomach-turning threat inherent in the line awoke a latent nightmare in the actor.
—Seija Rankin, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Mar. 2024
This also speaks to a latent tension between the royal family and the media.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2024
At the campaign’s outset, there was speculation that antisemitism, latent or overt, might hurt the Gore-Lieberman ticket.
—Michael H. Brown, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024
Supply Chain Issues Are Industry-Wide Much has been made of passengers latent desire post-pandemic to travel again and Bloomberg reports that the industry just cannot keep up with demand.
—Alex Ledsom, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
This scene serves as the film’s centerpiece, bringing any number of latent conflicts collectively to the surface, though there is an air of contrivance, workshopping even, to its heavily pointed rhetoric.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 Mar. 2024
India and Japan both send two companies each to the Asia Future 30, reflecting the latent potential in both these economies to innovate.
—Fang Ruan, Fortune Asia, 20 Mar. 2024
For now, these data suggest only a latent, passive dissatisfaction that may or may not turn into something larger.
—Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2024
IEEE Spectrum, 14 Feb. 2024
Keeler: One of the secret ingredients of the Nuggets’ latent dynasty is chemistry, both on and off the court.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 5 Feb. 2024
Instead, that intensity is replaced by the latent, looming chaos of trying to build and open a brand-new restaurant on a shoestring budget.
—Sam Stone, Bon Appétit, 22 June 2023
The desire existed right below the threshold of consciousness, yet this latent need seemingly guided my actions for the past four years.
—Zachary Zane, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2023
The mothership — the Krystal ship — was a wicked-humored drama about a chemistry teacher/latent megalomaniac who cooks up a meth empire with one of his burnout students after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.
—Dan Snierson, EW.com, 17 Aug. 2022
But some people live with latent tuberculosis infections, meaning the bacteria is inactive and the host isn’t contagious and doesn’t have symptoms.
—Aria Bendix, NBC News, 4 Feb. 2023
Still, even when present in very small quantities, the paper appears to show that approximate memorization in latent diffusion models does exist, and that could have implications for data privacy and copyright.
—Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 1 Feb. 2023
Standard treatment is a mixture of antibiotics administered over a few months for latent cases and longer, up to 12 months, for active cases.
—Yereth Rosen, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Jan. 2023
Adjective
But other factors are also at play, including other illnesses that weaken the immune system and allow latent TB infections to emerge.
—Mike Stobbe, The Denver Post, 30 Mar. 2024
When Moura was filming in Atlanta two years ago, the stomach-turning threat inherent in the line awoke a latent nightmare in the actor.
—Seija Rankin, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Mar. 2024
This also speaks to a latent tension between the royal family and the media.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2024
At the campaign’s outset, there was speculation that antisemitism, latent or overt, might hurt the Gore-Lieberman ticket.
—Michael H. Brown, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024
Supply Chain Issues Are Industry-Wide Much has been made of passengers latent desire post-pandemic to travel again and Bloomberg reports that the industry just cannot keep up with demand.
—Alex Ledsom, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
This scene serves as the film’s centerpiece, bringing any number of latent conflicts collectively to the surface, though there is an air of contrivance, workshopping even, to its heavily pointed rhetoric.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 Mar. 2024
India and Japan both send two companies each to the Asia Future 30, reflecting the latent potential in both these economies to innovate.
—Fang Ruan, Fortune Asia, 20 Mar. 2024
For now, these data suggest only a latent, passive dissatisfaction that may or may not turn into something larger.
—Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2024
Noun
The encoder compresses input data into a lower-dimensional space, known as the latent (or embedding) space, that preserves the most essential aspects of the data.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Feb. 2024
Keeler: One of the secret ingredients of the Nuggets’ latent dynasty is chemistry, both on and off the court.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 5 Feb. 2024
Instead, that intensity is replaced by the latent, looming chaos of trying to build and open a brand-new restaurant on a shoestring budget.
—Sam Stone, Bon Appétit, 22 June 2023
The desire existed right below the threshold of consciousness, yet this latent need seemingly guided my actions for the past four years.
—Zachary Zane, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2023
The mothership — the Krystal ship — was a wicked-humored drama about a chemistry teacher/latent megalomaniac who cooks up a meth empire with one of his burnout students after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.
—Dan Snierson, EW.com, 17 Aug. 2022
But some people live with latent tuberculosis infections, meaning the bacteria is inactive and the host isn’t contagious and doesn’t have symptoms.
—Aria Bendix, NBC News, 4 Feb. 2023
Still, even when present in very small quantities, the paper appears to show that approximate memorization in latent diffusion models does exist, and that could have implications for data privacy and copyright.
—Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 1 Feb. 2023
Standard treatment is a mixture of antibiotics administered over a few months for latent cases and longer, up to 12 months, for active cases.
—Yereth Rosen, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Jan. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'latent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near latent
Cite this Entry
“Latent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/latent. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
latent
adjective
la·tent
ˈlāt-ᵊnt 
: existing in hidden or dormant form: as
a
: present or capable of living or developing in a host without producing visible symptoms of disease
a latent virus
a latent infection
b
: not consciously expressed
latent anxiety
c
: relating to or being the latent content of a dream or thought
latently
adverb
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