optical

American  

[op-ti-kuhl] / ˈɒp tɪ kəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or applying optics optics or the principles of optics.

2. constructed to assist sight or to correct defects in vision.

3. of or relating to sight or vision; visual.

4. of or relating to the eye.

5. of or relating to an optician or opticians or to their products, especially eyeglasses.

   an optical service.

6. dealing with or skilled in optics.

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noun

1. opticals. optical effects.

optical British  

/ ˈɒptɪkəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, producing, or involving light

2. of or relating to the eye or to the sense of sight; optic

3. (esp of a lens) aiding vision or correcting a visual disorder

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optical Scientific  

/ ŏp′tĭ-kəl /

1. Relating to vision or the eyes.

2. Relating to optics.

3. Relating to or using visible light.

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Other Word Forms

• nonoptical adjective
• nonoptically adverb
• optically adverb
• suboptical adjective
• suboptically adverb

Etymology

Origin of optical

First recorded in 1560–70; optic + -al ¹

Example Sentences

The decline was driven by a fall in output in the construction industry, as well as in electronic and optical products and in the pharmaceutical sector.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

The optical networking company announced after the closing bell Thursday that it received a new $71 million order for data-center transceivers from a hyperscale customer, bringing that client’s orders to $124 million since mid-March.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

The order is for production of wafer-level test and burn-in of silicon photonics integrated circuits, used in data center optical interconnects and emerging optical I/O architectures for AI processors, according to Aehr.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

Researchers emphasize that optical wireless technology is not meant to replace Wi-Fi or cellular networks.

From Science Daily • Apr. 2, 2026

The hairpin crown was an optical illusion: it’s just hair, graying and cropped short.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood