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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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.
Before JWST, researchers could not directly observe molecular hydrogen, but the team predicted that molecular winds should exist and could be dense enough during the earliest stages to block X-ray photons.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
Instead of treating every cancer of the same general type in exactly the same way, precision oncology uses the molecular and genetic features of an individual tumor to help guide therapy.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2026
"I'm crystal ball gazing and can do it reasonably well on a good day, but nowhere near with the clarity of the nanopore, which gives a comprehensive molecular classification," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Rather than functioning only as a catalyst that drives chemical reactions, NUDT5 can also act as a molecular scaffold that helps organize cellular metabolism.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
In place of pencil and paper, the main working tools were a set of molecular models superficially resembling the toys of preschool children.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
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.
