microscopic
Americanadjective
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so small as to be invisible or indistinct without the use of the microscope.
microscopic organisms.
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very small; tiny.
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of, relating to, or involving a microscope.
microscopic investigation.
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very detailed; meticulous.
a microscopic view of society.
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suggestive of the precise use of the microscope; minute.
microscopic exactness.
adjective
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not large enough to be seen with the naked eye but visible under a microscope Compare macroscopic
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very small; minute
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of, concerned with, or using a microscope
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characterized by or done with great attention to detail
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of microscopic
First recorded in 1670–80; microscope + -ic
Explanation
Skin cells, bacteria, and some kinds of algae are all microscopic, or too small to see without a microscope. Use the adjective microscopic to describe things that are so tiny you can't see them. The word is a scientific term if you literally mean "can be seen with a microscope," although people use it sometimes to mean "really small," as in the phrase "Wow, your feet are microscopic." Mikros means "small" in Greek, and the scope part of the word comes from the Greek word skopein, "to examine."
Vocabulary lists containing microscopic
Cell Biology - Middle School
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Cell Biology - High School
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It's the Little Things: Synonyms for "Small"
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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.
These tiny machines are around 50 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, bringing researchers closer to the long-pursued goal of interacting directly with the microscopic world.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
The microscopic organisms can look like blue-green paint, scum or greenish-brown discolouration.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
I put on my glasses to read the breakfast selections, which were printed in a microscopic font.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
They miraculously win a ton of games in spite of microscopic budgets and rosters largely devoid of household names.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
They don't realize that floating in the air on dust particles, lurking on fingertips, or growing on the shiny steel blades of their unwashed surgical scalpels are single-celled bacteria and other microscopic life forms.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
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.
