radioactive
Physics, Chemistry. of, relating to, exhibiting, or caused by radioactivity: A pressing issue in post-Soviet Russia is safe long-term storage of radioactive waste, from both military and civilian applications.
relating to or being a person, topic, or matter that is likely to provoke intense negative reactions or disagreement: The option of raising taxes to fund these expenditures is a politically radioactive approach that a majority of state policymakers have avoided.
Origin of radioactive
1Other words from radioactive
- ra·di·o·ac·tive·ly, adverb
- non·ra·di·o·ac·tive, adjective
- un·ra·di·o·ac·tive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use radioactive in a sentence
At the same time, another variety of wasp, the pipe-organ mud dauber, was building nests only of nonradioactive mud.
Atoms, Nature, and Man | Neal O. Hines
British Dictionary definitions for radioactive
/ (ˌreɪdɪəʊˈæktɪv) /
exhibiting, using, or concerned with radioactivity
Derived forms of radioactive
- radioactively, adverb
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
Cultural definitions for radioactive
A descriptive term for a material made up of atoms in which radioactivity occurs.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse