oceanic
adjective
of, living in, or produced by the ocean.
oceanic
American
[oh-shee-an-ik]
/ ˌoʊ ʃiˈæn ɪk /
adjective
-
of, living in, or produced by the ocean.
oceanic currents.
-
Oceanography. of or relating to the region of water lying above the bathyal, abyssal, and hadal zones of the sea bottom.
-
immensely large; vast.
an oceanic expanse of stars.
-
(initial capital letter) of or relating to Oceania, its peoples, or their languages.
Oceanic
1
British
/ ˌəʊʃɪˈænɪk /
noun
adjective
-
of, relating to, or belonging to this group of languages
-
of or relating to Oceania
oceanic
2
British
/ ˌəʊʃɪˈænɪk /
adjective
-
of or relating to the ocean
-
living in the depths of the ocean beyond the continental shelf at a depth exceeding 200 metres
oceanic fauna
-
huge or overwhelming
-
(of geological formations) of volcanic origin, arising from the ocean
oceanic islands
oceanic
Scientific
/ ō′shē-ăn′ĭk /
-
Relating to the ocean.
-
Relating to the ocean waters that lie beyond the continental shelf and exceed 200 m (656 ft) in depth.
-
Compare neritic See more at epipelagic zone
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of oceanic
First recorded in 1650–60; from Medieval Latin ōceanicus, equivalent to Latin ōcean(us) + -icus adjective suffix; see origin at ocean, -ic
Explanation
Things that have something to do with the ocean are oceanic. Oceanic water comes from the sea, and oceanic study focuses on creatures that live in the ocean and other ocean-related topics. An oceanic vessel is a fancy way of referring to a ship that sails on the sea, and oceanic tides are the constantly rising and falling levels of ocean water. You can also use this adjective to mean, "as enormous as the ocean," like an oceanic success or an oceanic pile of work to do before the end of the day. Oceanic comes from the Greek okeanos, which in ancient Greece referred to an imagined "endless river surrounding the land."
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.
See Examples For:
The varieties from Pemaquid Oyster Company started with a salty brine that teed up an oceanic kick of kelp.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Critics fear deep-sea mining will cause irreversible damage, smothering marine life in plumes of waste and disrupting oceanic migrations with the thrum of heavy machinery.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Island arcs, chains of volcanoes that develop above subduction zones where one oceanic plate descends beneath another, are often unusually rich in gold.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
"Chances are this El Nino is going to be stronger than the 2015-2016 one," Leising said, noting that a decade ago, the oceanic heat wave was devastating for the Golden State.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
His father was heir to the Vanderbilt railroad and oceanic shipping fortune; his mother’s father had invented the fantastically lucrative Bromo-Seltzer.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
This summer’s temperatures in the east-central Pacific are among the highest on record, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
There is a 98% chance that El Niño will be “very strong” for the three-month period ending in December, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration believes that this fourth global coral bleaching event likely concluded in mid-2025.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently said there’s a 95% chance the current El Niño weather event would be the strongest since 1950.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
This peculiar linking-together of opposites—knowl-edge with ignorance, cynicism with fanaticism—is one of the chief distinguishing marks of Oceanic society.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
