kinetic
adjective
Did you know?
Ever watch a top spin? Or see one pool ball collide with another and send it across the felt? When you do, you’re witnessing kinetic energy—the energy of something in motion. Kinetics is a branch of science that deals with the effects of forces upon the motions of material bodies, and something described as kinetic has to do with the motion of material bodies and the forces associated with them. Both words were adopted in the 19th century from the Greek word kinētikos (meaning "of motion") for use in the field of physics, but the adjective kinetic proved too apt for broader application, and by the 1930s it was being used to describe people and things full of literal and figurative energy as well.
Examples of kinetic in a Sentence
Rebecca Ruth Gould, JSTOR Daily, 9 Apr. 2025
Like the best Watanabe projects, this one promises plenty of kinetic action sequences and a killer soundtrack.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 5 Apr. 2025
Known for his kinetic camera and visceral storytelling, Scorsese turns inward here, using formality and visual beauty as tools to explore repression and unspoken longing.
—Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025
Tested and proven as a scalable counter-swarm solution, all Leonidas variants boast an open architecture, unlimited magazine, and demonstrated non-kinetic effects against various electronic threats.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 9 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Kinetic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kinetic. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
kinetic
adjective
from Greek kinētikos "relating to motion," derived from kinein "to move" — related to cinema
Medical Definition
kinetic
adjective
kī-
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