ballistic

American  

[buh-lis-tik] / bəˈlɪs tɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to ballistics.

2. having its motion determined or describable by the laws of exterior ballistics.

---

idioms

1. go ballistic, to become overwrought or irrational.

   went ballistic over the idea of a tax hike.

ballistic British  

/ bəˈlɪstɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to ballistics

2. denoting or relating to the flight of projectiles after power has been cut off, moving under their own momentum and the external forces of gravity and air resistance

3. (of a measurement or measuring instrument) depending on a brief impulse or current that causes a movement related to the quantity to be measured

   a ballistic pendulum

4. informal to become enraged or frenziedly violent

5. (of materials) strong enough to resist damage by projectile weapons

   ballistic nylon

---

ballistic More Idioms  

1. see go ballistic.

---

Other Word Forms

• ballistically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of ballistic

First recorded in 1765–75; ballist(a) + -ic

Explanation

The adjective ballistic describes the flight of an object through space. It usually applies to projectiles like bullets or rockets that are fired from weapons. If you’re in the path of a ballistic missile, get out of the way! A ballistic missile is guided only when it’s first launched. After that its flight is subject to the law of gravity. The word comes from a Roman weapon called a ballista, which chucked rocks into the air, whose name comes from the Greek for "throw." If someone has “gone ballistic,” they're crazy with anger. When you go ballistic, you’re just like an unmanned missile: you fly into a fit of rage and lose control over your feelings or actions.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ballistic

The Saudi-led coalition separately said Tuesday that it destroyed a ballistic-missile launch platform in Sana’a and a storage facility at a mountainous site in Saada containing 20 ballistic missiles, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

A soldier received an air-raid alert for ballistic missiles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

But the armed forces still lack a weapons system to deal with long-range ballistic and hypersonic missiles.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

The Associated Press reported at the time that Iran has a self-imposed limit on its ballistic missile program, limiting the range to 1,240 miles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Sputnik was proof, American policymakers assumed, that the Soviet Union had intercontinental ballistic missiles—many of them, hundreds perhaps, with the power to hurl an atomic weapon at US cities.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly