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fictitious force

American  

noun

Physics.

  1. any force that is postulated to account for apparent deviations from Newton's laws of motion appearing in an accelerated reference system.

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.

In the merry-go-round’s frame of reference, we explain the apparent curve to the right by using a fictitious force, called the Coriolis force, that causes the ball to curve to the right.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Instead, F is equal to ma plus a fictitious force.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

The force to the left sensed by car passengers is a fictitious force having no physical origin.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

His strength had been merely the fictitious force of fever; in reality he was weak.

From Horace Chase by Woolson, Constance Fenimore

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.