groundbreaking
Americannoun
adjective
-
of or relating to such a ceremony.
-
originating or pioneering a new endeavor, field of inquiry, or the like.
Pasteur's groundbreaking work in bacteriology.
Etymology
Origin of groundbreaking
First recorded in 1905–10; ground 1 + break + -ing 1, -ing 2
Explanation
Something groundbreaking is brand new, important, and original, like groundbreaking research that proves your cat really does love you. As a noun, groundbreaking is the traditional way of marking the very first day of a building project, when the ground is officially "broken," either literally with a shovel or figuratively. You could even attend the groundbreaking of a groundbreaking new hotel that's heated and cooled with sustainable geothermal energy. This word comes from the phrase to break ground, originally used to describe both construction and planting crops.
Vocabulary lists containing groundbreaking
Kwame Crashes the Underworld
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The Ice Cream Machine
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Ida B
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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.
That groundbreaking decision, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, didn’t come out of nothing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026
His first Emmy came for directing "Taxi," a groundbreaking comedy starring Danny DeVito, Andy Kaufman and Tony Danza, about the rough and tumble staff of a New York City taxicab company.
From Barron's • Jun. 19, 2026
Their groundbreaking work earned the trio the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.
From Science Daily • Jun. 13, 2026
Walker, who was starring on the groundbreaking Norman Lear hit comedy “Good Times,” caught his act.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
Beethoven, though, knew his contemporary music, and particularly the groundbreaking piano music of two London-based composers, Italian Muzio Clementi and Bohemian Johann Dussek.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
