optical
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or applying optics or the principles of optics.
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constructed to assist sight or to correct defects in vision.
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of or relating to sight or vision; visual.
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of or relating to the eye.
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of or relating to an optician or opticians or to their products, especially eyeglasses.
an optical service.
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dealing with or skilled in optics.
noun
adjective
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of, relating to, producing, or involving light
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of or relating to the eye or to the sense of sight; optic
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(esp of a lens) aiding vision or correcting a visual disorder
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Relating to vision or the eyes.
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Relating to optics.
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Relating to or using visible light.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of optical
Explanation
Anything that's optical has something to do with sight. You could call your glasses an optical aid, since they help you see things more clearly. Optical assistance comes in many forms, from glasses and contacts to binoculars and telescopes. All of these optical devices help magnify or clarify your vision. Using a big telescope to view the stars is known as optical astronomy, as opposed to the kind of astronomy that's practiced using radio signals or math. An optical illusion is a trick played on your eyes, when what they perceive is different from what is actually there.
Vocabulary lists containing optical
Common Senses: Op, Ops, Opt ("Sight")
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Workshop 1, Part 1
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Punching the Air
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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.
Chinese AI startups like Deepseek and Moonshot AI, as well as Baidu's chip subsidiary Kunlunxin and Zhongji Innolight which makes high-speed optical connectors for AI infrastructure, could soon follow.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Currently, stocks of hyperscalers at the front end of the AI boom are stagnating with falls in free cash flow, while chips, infrastructure providers and optical networking gain.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Throughout the day, they took breaks to visit interactive exhibits like a sound gallery and wall of optical illusions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The design could overcome the limitations of conventional optical delay devices, which typically perform only fixed functions.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
I was searching for software, brainpower, complex algorithms, knowledge workers, call centers, transmission protocols, breakthroughs in optical engineering—the sources of wealth in our day.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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.
