adjective
so small as to be invisible or indistinct without the use of the microscope: microscopic organisms.Compare macroscopic. very small; tiny.
of, relating to, or involving a microscope: microscopic investigation.
very detailed; meticulous: a microscopic view of society.
suggestive of the precise use of the microscope; minute: microscopic exactness.
Also mi·cro·scop·i·cal.
Related formsmi·cro·scop·i·cal·ly, adverbnon·mi·cro·scop·ic, adjectivenon·mi·cro·scop·i·cal, adjectivenon·mi·cro·scop·i·cal·ly, adverbun·mi·cro·scop·ic, adjectiveun·mi·cro·scop·i·cal·ly, adverbDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for microscopic
imperceptible,
teeny,
infinitesimal,
negligible,
atomic,
invisible,
minuscule,
diminutive,
little,
minute,
wee
Examples from the Web for microscopic
Contemporary Examples of microscopic
Other methane is exhaled by microscopic organisms directly, as in the human gut.
After all, not every county medical examiner can spot CTE on microscopic slides.
But there is another curiosity about the microscopic attention that is paid to civilian casualties.
How could anyone do all this without leaving behind a scintilla of microscopic evidence?
The microscopic attention paid to her stumbles likely has much to do with that impossible yardstick of perfection.
Historical Examples of microscopic
The Ma was at least half the size of the slate, while Heman was microscopic; but, alas!
You have had time to examine your prize in microscopic fashion.
The microscopic test of the distribution of alkali in the blood.
He sees human nature with an eye which is at once broad and microscopic.
The entire box was filled with notes in German in a microscopic hand.
British Dictionary definitions for microscopicmicroscopic
less commonly microscopical
adjective
not large enough to be seen with the naked eye but visible under a microscopeCompare macroscopic very small; minute
of, concerned with, or using a microscope
characterized by or done with great attention to detail
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
Word Origin and History for microscopicadj.1732, "like a microscope;" see microscope + -ic. Meaning "of minute size" is from 1760s. Related: Microscopical; microscopically.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
microscopic
[mī′krə-skŏp′ĭk]
adj.
Too small to be seen by the unaided eye but large enough to be studied under a microscope.
Of, relating to, or concerned with a microscope.
Being or characterized as exceedingly small; minute.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
