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mechanistic

American  
[mek-uh-nis-tik] / ˌmɛk əˈnɪs tɪk /

adjective

  1. of or relating to the theory of mechanism or to mechanists.

  2. of or relating to mechanics.

  3. mechanical.


mechanistic British  
/ ˌmɛkəˈnɪstɪk /

adjective

  1. philosophy of or relating to the theory of mechanism

  2. maths of or relating to mechanics

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of mechanistic

First recorded in 1880–85; mechanist + -ic

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.

See Examples For:

Its authors acknowledged that mechanistic evidence remains limited.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

"By dissecting which immune cells are involved and how they coordinate the response, we're offering vaccine developers some additional mechanistic insights to consider in their goal of optimizing these vaccines against tumor proteins."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026

He calls it a "mechanistic world model", which will structure knowledge in a way the AI can use efficiently.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

The 43-minute work for four couples is set to austere and mechanistic piano pieces, inspiring a succession of solo, duo and grouped choreographic configurations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026

But biophysicists were intent on restoring a rigidly mechanistic description to biology.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

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