entropic
Americanadjective
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Thermodynamics. of or relating to entropy, a measure of the thermal energy unavailable for work, or of the constituent randomness, in a process or system.
At very small scales, the entropic effects become significant, so a more intricate analysis, incorporating thermal fluctuations, is needed in the study of biopolymers.
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(in data transmission and information theory) of or relating to entropy, a measure of the information lost in a transmitted signal or message.
In an oral culture, only those thoughts that can be formulated into sayings, proverbs, and other dicta are likely to survive the entropic effects of oral transmission.
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(in cosmology) relating to or characterized by entropy, a hypothetical tendency for the universe to attain a state of maximum homogeneity.
As entropy grows, the system loses dynamism, to the point that a perfectly entropic universe would be a smooth and inert field of matter.
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chaotic; without form or order.
The opening poem presents an entropic clashing of voice and breath.
Nature is inherently wild and entropic, and yet we persist in expending energy to force it into submission.
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relating to or characterized by a doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration.
Response to the rioting was harsh, shoring up state control and warding off the outbreak of further social unrest, that is, the entropic degradation of the system.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of entropic
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 Entropic Brain,” a paper published last year in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Carhart-Harris cites research indicating that this debilitating state, sometimes called “heavy self-consciousness,” may be the result of a “hyperactive” default-mode network.
From The New Yorker • Feb. 2, 2015
Muckai Girish, a Wharton student who works as a vice president at chipmaker Entropic Communications Inc., expects the new campus to put the school on Silicon Valley’s radar.
From BusinessWeek • Feb. 9, 2012
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.
