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centric

1 American  
[sen-trik] / ˈsɛn trɪk /
Also centrical

adjective

  1. pertaining to or situated at the center; central.

  2. Anatomy, Physiology. pertaining to or originating at a nerve center.

-centric 2 American  

  1. a combining form with the meanings “having a center or centers” of the specified number or kind (polycentric ); “centered upon, focused around” that named by the first element (ethnocentric; heliocentric ).

centric 1 British  
/ sɛnˈtrɪsɪtɪ, ˈsɛntrɪk /

adjective

  1. being central or having a centre

  2. relating to or originating at a nerve centre

  3. botany

    1. Also: concentric.  (of vascular bundles) having one type of tissue completely surrounding the other

    2. (of leaves, such as those of the onion) cylindrical

"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
-centric 2 British  

suffix

  1. having a centre as specified

    heliocentric
"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

Usage

What does -centric mean? The combining form -centric is used like a suffix meaning variously “having a center or centers” of the specified number or kind or "centered upon, focused around." It is often used in a variety of technical and everyday terms. The form -centric comes from a combination of two combining forms. The first is centr-, meaning "center," from Latin centrum. The second form is the suffix -ic, from Latin -icus, which has a variety of meanings, including "having some characteristics of."

Other Word Forms

  • centrically adverb
  • centricity noun
  • multicentric adjective
  • uncentric adjective
  • uncentrical adjective

Etymology

Origin of centric1

1580–90; < Greek kentrikós of, pertaining to a cardinal point, equivalent to kéntr ( on ) ( center ) + -ikos -ic

Origin of -centric2

centr-, -ic

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.

While Noguchi is seen as a dovish member, Nakagawa is considered to have more centric opinions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

"The geographical reach is great and it's really important to make sure we aren't doing stuff that is too London centric," he said.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2024

“Forever more, human- centric robots like that are going to be part of human life. So that’s pretty exciting.”

From Seattle Times • Nov. 5, 2023

As a result investors appeared to refocus on more U.S. centric matters, John Augustine, said chief investment officer at Huntington National Bank in Columbus, Ohio.

From Reuters • Oct. 9, 2023

This would later be called the centric point, and it is the spot where the vanishing point is placed in a vanishing-point construction.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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.