genetic
adjective
pertaining or according to genetics.
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genetic
1 American
[juh-net-ik]
/ dʒəˈnɛt ɪk /
Also
genetical
-genetic
2
American
genetic
British
/ dʒɪˈnɛtɪk /
adjective
Other Word Forms
- genetically adverb
- hypergenetic adjective
- hypergenetical adjective
- hypergenetically adverb
- hypergeneticalness noun
- nongenetic adjective
- nongenetical adjective
- nongenetically adverb
Etymology
Origin of genetic
Explanation
Anything genetic has to do with your genes and DNA. You inherited your mom's eye color because it's genetic. Genetic traits run in families: biological families, anyway. Anything genetic is related to your DNA, the material you inherited from your biological parents. Hair color, eye color, and other physical traits are genetic, and so are some diseases. Scientists do genetic research to see how knowing what’s in your genes could help keep you well. If you're healthy, one reason is good genetics.
Vocabulary lists containing genetic
Genetics - Inheritance and Variation of Traits
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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Life Science: Genetics and Evolution
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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.
"A genetic powerhouse", and a "robust" player who has "destroyed metrics in the gym" are ways Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has described Kai Havertz.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
He is especially compelling on those groups that left no obvious cultural or genetic descendants.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
Steller sea lions can be separated into Western and Eastern populations and are differentiated based on physical and genetic differences.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026
As new genetic tools became available, Datta's team revisited the question with more powerful methods.
From Science Daily • Apr. 30, 2026
The distinction between the two “races” of flies by virtue of a single chromosomal inversion was the most dramatic example of genetic variation that any geneticist had ever seen in a natural population.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
