dynamite
Americannoun
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a high explosive, originally consisting of nitroglycerin mixed with an absorbent substance, now with ammonium nitrate usually replacing the nitroglycerin.
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any person or thing having a spectacular effect.
verb (used with object)
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to blow up, shatter, or destroy with dynamite.
Saboteurs dynamited the dam.
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to mine or charge with dynamite.
adjective
noun
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an explosive consisting of nitroglycerine or ammonium nitrate mixed with kieselguhr, sawdust, or wood pulp
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informal a spectacular or potentially dangerous person or thing
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dynamitesimple
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dynamitessimple
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have dynamitedperfect
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has dynamitedperfect
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am dynamitingprogressive
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are dynamitingprogressive
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is dynamitingprogressive
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have been dynamitingperfect progressive
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has been dynamitingperfect progressive
Past
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dynamitedsimple
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had dynamitedperfect
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was dynamitingprogressive
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were dynamitingprogressive
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had been dynamitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dynamite
From Swedish dynamit, introduced by Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( def. ), its inventor in 1867; see dynam-, -ite 1
Explanation
Dynamite is a material that explodes when it's detonated. Dynamite has long been used in mining, for blasting open layers of rock. Dynamite is not the kind of thing you buy at the corner hardware store. Dynamite was invented in 1867 by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor, chemist, and engineer. Builders and miners were happy about the new explosive, since dynamite was stronger and safer than those that came before it. Nobel named his invention dynamit, a Swedish version of the Greek dynamis, "power." The earliest figurative meaning was "dangerous," but in the 1960s it came to also mean "excellent" or "impressive."
Vocabulary lists containing dynamite
Civil Engineering
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Engineering - Middle School
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 3–September 9, 2022
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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.
Still, when she does deign to speak, there’s a dynamite scene where she dresses down Julian critically and psychologically.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
Denford’s steadily growing “nobody cares” audience regularly tosses sticks of dynamite into that vortex in the name of protecting our sanity.
From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026
Norton added: "Bringing him and Bad Bunny together to tell the true story of Puerto Rico's roots is going to be like a flame finding the stick of dynamite that's been waiting for it."
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
To prepare the site, engineers have already blasted through more than 7 million pounds of dynamite.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
You can feel it growing or preparing like a fuse burning toward dynamite.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
