explosive

American  

[ik-sploh-siv] / ɪkˈsploʊ sɪv /

adjective

1. tending or serving to explode.

   an explosive temper; Nitroglycerin is an explosive substance.

2. pertaining to or of the nature of an explosion.

   explosive violence.

3. likely to lead to violence or hostility.

   an explosive issue.

4. Phonetics. plosive.

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noun

explosives plural

1. an explosive agent or substance, as dynamite.

2. Phonetics. plosive.

explosive British  

/ ɪkˈspləʊsɪv /

adjective

1. of, involving, or characterized by an explosion or explosions

2. capable of exploding or tending to explode

3. potentially violent or hazardous; dangerous

   an explosive situation

4. phonetics another word for plosive

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noun

1. a substance that decomposes rapidly under certain conditions with the production of gases, which expand by the heat of the reaction. The energy released is used in firearms, blasting, and rocket propulsion

2. a plosive consonant; stop

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• explosiveness
  noun
• nonexplosiveness
  noun
• unexplosiveness
  noun
• nonexplosive
  adjective
• unexplosive
  adjective
• explosively
  adverb
• nonexplosively
  adverb
• unexplosively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• explosives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of explosive

First recorded in 1660–70; explos(ion) + -ive

Explanation

An explosive is a substance that can be made to explode by being hit or lit on fire. You might use an explosive to create a tunnel through a mountain — but you probably shouldn't use one to clear weeds from your yard. Explosives contain highly reactive chemicals that are full of potential energy, which can be released with a bang. You can also use the word explosive as an adjective, to describe such substances or anything else that is dramatic, abrupt, or loud. You might say that your brother has an explosive temper sometimes, or that your snow shoveling business has seen explosive growth this winter. The Latin root is explodere, "drive out."

Example Sentences

But his explosive style found its fullest expression in “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” a novel steeped in reportage and modeled on 19th-century triple-deckers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026

The AI coding startup once garnered lavish praise for its explosive revenue growth.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 19, 2026

“We have people from so many different countries migrating to Inglewood, and there’s an explosive sense of community pride,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026

The VanEck Semiconductor exchange-traded fund owns companies that are seeing explosive demand for the artificial-intelligence chips that go into companies’ ever-growing data centers.

From Barron's • Jun. 17, 2026

When truth is buried underground, it grows, it chokes, it gathers such an explosive force that on the day it bursts out, it blows up everything with it.

From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau

Related Words

• fiery
• frenzied
• hazardous
• meteoric
• stormy
• tense
• touchy
• ugly
• uncontrollable
• unstable
• violent