molecular
Americanadjective
adjective
-
of or relating to molecules
molecular hydrogen
-
logic (of a sentence, formula, etc) capable of analysis into atomic formulae of the appropriate kind
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of molecular
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How does molecular compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Use the adjective molecular to describe something that has to do with or is made up of molecules. If you're studying molecular biology, you're focusing on the molecules that make up living things. When a scientist studies things on a molecular level, she's looking at them up close, examining their cells. The adjective molecular comes up most often in biology and chemistry, and it always describes the very smallest units that make up organisms or elements. Molecular comes from the noun molecule, which means "extremely minute particle," from the Latin molecula, "tiny mass."
Vocabulary lists containing molecular
1.7.B Using Ice to Keep Orange Groves Warm
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Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat
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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.
In many cases, the RNA errors altered molecular instructions that tell proteins where inside the cell they need to go.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
I’m a public health policy and communications strategist and a former molecular biologist, so I’m often asked for help making health decisions.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026
In 2012, Verdine launched a biotech, Warp Drive Bio, to look for molecular glues out in the wild.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The epigenome consists of molecular tags that help control whether genes are switched on or off, ultimately influencing how cells behave.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
The new phenomenon of cell fusion, a laboratory trick on which much of today’s science of molecular genetics relies for its data, is the simplest and most spectacular symbol of the tendency.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
