antinuclear

American  

[an-tee-noo-klee-er, -nyoo-, an-tahy-, -kyuh-ler] / ˌæn tiˈnu kli ər, -ˈnyu-, ˌæn taɪ-, -kyə lər /

adjective

1. opposed to the building, stockpiling, or use of nuclear weapons.

2. opposed to the building or use of nuclear power plants.

   Antinuclear demonstrators picketed the power plant.

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antinuclear British  

/ ˌæntɪˈnjuːklɪə /

adjective

1. opposed to nuclear weapons

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Pronunciation

See nuclear.

Other Word Forms

• antinuclearist noun

Etymology

Origin of antinuclear

First recorded in 1955–60; anti- + nuclear

Example Sentences

Most came from across the border in Germany, where antinuclear sentiment was running hot.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

PGE would eventually shutter Trojan after decades of regulatory violations, forced shutdowns, construction flaws, costly repairs and constant harrying from antinuclear activist Lloyd Marbet through the state council.

From Salon • Aug. 17, 2025

Subsequent films retreated from the original’s explicit antinuclear sentiments, instead introducing a rogue’s gallery of monsters for Godzilla to fight.

From Scientific American • Nov. 3, 2023

Nuclear testing in the Pacific “was shrouded in this veil of lies,” said Bedi Racule, an antinuclear activist from the Marshall Islands.

From New York Times • Dec. 30, 2022

The very notion of “clean” thermonuclear weapons was mercilessly demolished in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists by Ralph Lapp, a distinguished antinuclear physicist.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik