Zwicky

American

[tsvik-ee] / ˈtsvɪk i /

noun

Fritz 1898–1974, Swiss astrophysicist, born in Bulgaria, in the U.S. after 1925.

Zwicky British

/ ˈtsvɪkɪ /

noun

Fritz. 1898–1974, Swiss astronomer and physicist, working in the US from 1925; noted for his study of supernovae

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In the early 1930s, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky noticed that many galaxies were moving far faster than their visible mass should permit.

From Science Daily • Nov. 29, 2025

In 2019, a routine observation by the Zwicky scope noticed a previously unheralded quiescent galaxy called SDSS1335+0728, 300 million light-years away, suddenly brighten.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 17, 2024

It was picked up by the Zwicky Transient Facility at Caltech.

From Slate • Aug. 5, 2023

Janus was spotted using the Zwicky Transient Facility at Caltech's Palomar Observatory near San Diego, with subsequent observations made by other ground-based telescopes.

From Reuters • Jul. 21, 2023

Born in Bulgaria and raised in Switzerland, Zwicky came to the California Institute of Technology in the 1920s and there at once distinguished himself by his abrasive personality and erratic talents.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023