abstract:A hydrophile, from the Greek (hydros), meaning water, and φιλια (philia), meaning love, is a molecule or other molecular entity that is attracted to, and tends to be dissolved by, water. A hydrophilic molecule or portion of a molecule is one that has a tendency to interact with or be dissolved by water and other polar substances.definition of hydrophilic and hydrophilicity from: IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997). XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8. .Merriam-Webster dictionary Hydrophilic substances can seem to attract water out of the air, the way salts (which are hydrophilic) do. Sugar, too, is hydrophilic, and like salt is sometimes used to draw water out of foods.