implosive

American  

[im-ploh-siv] / ɪmˈploʊ sɪv /

adjective

1. characterized by a partial vacuum behind the point of closure.

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noun

1. an implosive stop.

implosive British  

/ ɪmˈpləʊsɪv /

adjective

1. pronounced by or with implosion

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noun

1. an implosive consonant

Other Word Forms

• implosively adverb

Etymology

Origin of implosive

First recorded in 1875–80; im- ¹ + (ex)plosive

Example Sentences

After a very explosive character like Rooster, I will be more interested in an implosive character like Cromwell in “Wolf Hall” or Abel in “Bridge of Spies.”

From New York Times

And that's a pretty good outcome, considering the other implosive possibilities here.

From Washington Post

In the implosive “Wine Star,” of 1959, some kind of geological event, epic or minuscule, is witnessed from above.

From New York Times

This Australian maverick loves to steer celebrated stars out of their comfort zones in implosive, bare-knuckled productions that strip the poetry from lyrical plays.

From New York Times

The earlier sections of that work — filmed for TV in 1982 — were an astonishingly dark narrative in which a nuclear family showed all the frustrated, negative, often hostile energies of an implosive society, a feminist demonstration of everything that’s misdirected about modern American life.

From New York Times