molecular
Americanadjective
adjective
-
of or relating to molecules
molecular hydrogen
-
logic (of a sentence, formula, etc) capable of analysis into atomic formulae of the appropriate kind
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of molecular
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How does molecular compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Use the adjective molecular to describe something that has to do with or is made up of molecules. If you're studying molecular biology, you're focusing on the molecules that make up living things. When a scientist studies things on a molecular level, she's looking at them up close, examining their cells. The adjective molecular comes up most often in biology and chemistry, and it always describes the very smallest units that make up organisms or elements. Molecular comes from the noun molecule, which means "extremely minute particle," from the Latin molecula, "tiny mass."
Vocabulary lists containing molecular
1.7.B Using Ice to Keep Orange Groves Warm
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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.
Molecular studies conducted at the Institut Pasteur, led by Pascal Pineau, show that pesticides can interfere with processes that maintain normal cell function and identity.
From Science Daily • Apr. 27, 2026
Molecular glue is a technology that promotes the stickiness of disease-causing proteins, allowing them to be degraded.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
The latest findings, published in Molecular Cancer and supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, build on that earlier work and point to new possibilities for treatment.
From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026
"Molecular markers are essential, but they capture only slices of biology. With behavior, you see the whole organism, continuously and non-invasively."
From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2026
Wayne Grody, director of the Diagnostic Molecular Pathology Laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles, was once a fierce opponent of consent for tissue research.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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.
