atomic

[ uh-tom-ik ]

/ əˈtɒm ɪk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR atomic ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of, pertaining to, resulting from, or using atoms, atomic energy, or atomic bombs: an atomic explosion.

propelled or driven by atomic energy: an atomic submarine.

Chemistry. existing as free, uncombined atoms.

extremely minute.

Nearby words

atom, atom bomb, atom smasher, atom trap, atom-bomb, atomic, atomic age, atomic bomb, atomic clock, atomic cocktail, atomic energy

Also a·tom·i·cal.

Origin of atomic

First recorded in 1670–80; atom + -ic

Related forms

a·tom·i·cal·ly, adverbnon·a·tom·ic, adjectivenon·a·tom·i·cal, adjectivenon·a·tom·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for atomic

Producing one H-bomb would have diverted enough resources to produce 80 atomic warheads.
I Saw Nuclear Armageddon Sitting on My Desk|Clive Irving|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Transcripts from hearings held by the Atomic Energy Commission in 1954 have recently been declassified and studied by scholars.
I Saw Nuclear Armageddon Sitting on My Desk|Clive Irving|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In 1957 the U.S. Army first fielded artillery able to fire shells with atomic warheads.
I Saw Nuclear Armageddon Sitting on My Desk|Clive Irving|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One of these critics was William Borden, executive director of the congressional joint committee on atomic energy.
I Saw Nuclear Armageddon Sitting on My Desk|Clive Irving|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST

It was a decades-old howitzer Burns called a “multi-ton behemoth” and the atomic shell had a range of only ten miles.
I Saw Nuclear Armageddon Sitting on My Desk|Clive Irving|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Each letter represents a fixed quantity of the element for which it stands, viz., the atomic weight.
Logic|Carveth Read
After a long minute, Stanton said: "What about atomic energy?"
Anything You Can Do ...|Gordon Randall Garrett
Further, it may be linked with another ring, and so give the basis to the combining properties of atomic weights.
Aether and Gravitation|William George Hooper
Once we arrived here we found that a man named Copperd was the prime figure in his country's atomic weapons research.
The Plotters|Alexander Blade
During the war, over ten million American families had been separated, their way of life destroyed by the hell of atomic bombings.
Stopover|William Gerken

British Dictionary definitions for atomic

atomic

/ (əˈtɒmɪk) /

adjective

of, using, or characterized by atomic bombs or atomic energyatomic warfare

of, related to, or comprising atomsatomic hydrogen

extremely small; minute

logic (of a sentence, formula, etc) having no internal structure at the appropriate level of analysis. In predicate calculus, Fa is an atomic sentence and Fx an atomic predicate

Derived Forms

atomically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012