polar

[ poh-ler ]

/ ˈpoʊ lər /

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See synonyms for polar on Thesaurus.com

adjective

of or relating to the North or South Pole.

of or relating to the pole of any sphere, a magnet, an electric cell, etc.

opposite in character or action: The two have personalities that are polar.

capable of ionizing, as NaCl, HCl, or NaOH; electrolytic; heteropolar.

central; pivotal: the polar provision of the treaty.

analogous to the polestar as a guide; guiding: a polar precept.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of polar

From the Medieval Latin word polāris, dating back to 1545–55. See pole², -ar¹

OTHER WORDS FROM polar

an·ti·po·lar, adjectivetrans·po·lar, adjective

Words nearby polar

polacre, Poland, Poland China, Poland, invasion of, Polanski, polar, polar axis, polar bear, polar body, polar bond, polar cap

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use polar in a sentence

Global warming has triggered the greatest loss of ice in recent history, opening up the polar region to increased shipping traffic and mining exploration, bringing new levels of noise to an environment that used to be acoustically pristine.
Underwater Noise Pollution Is Disrupting Ocean Life—But We Can Fix It|Aryn Baker|February 5, 2021|Time
For now, SpaceX is only including laser links on polar satellites.
SpaceX adds laser links to Starlink satellites to serve Earth’s polar areas|Jon Brodkin|January 26, 2021|Ars Technica
The result was so successful that Malden ended up changing its name to Polartec, and polar fleece now likely needs very little in the way of introduction.
The Best Fleece-Lined Pants for the Outdoors|Wes Siler|January 15, 2021|Outside Online
In the atmosphere, waves can also break, but in this case the energy from those waves slows the polar vortex and heats the stratosphere.
The polar vortex is about to split in two. But what does that actually mean?|Philip Kiefer|January 11, 2021|Popular-Science

“India is definitely looking toward the Arctic to augment the nation’s fossil fuel needs,” says Sulagna Chattopadhyay, president of Science and Geopolitics of Himalaya, Arctic and Antarctic, a policy and advocacy organization working on polar issues.
India’s Dirty Arctic Energy Hunt|Charu Kasturi|January 11, 2021|Ozy
The weather, the conditions, you can imagine it—a polar bear in a desert, with a swimming pool 50 centimetres deep.
More Bad Luck For Depressed Polar Bear|Abby Haglage|July 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Shaked spoke in these generalities initially—referring to two sets of people, two polar opposites on a pendulum.
Knesset Member Walks Back On Facebook Post Calling Palestinian Kids ‘Little Snakes’|Gideon Resnick|July 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sykes suspects that the hairs come from either an unrecognized bear species, or an unknown hybrid of polar bear and brown bear.
Sorry Bigfoot Truthers: Yetis Aren’t Real|Elizabeth Picciuto|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She would leave every day of shooting during the polar vortex just grinning from ear-to-ear.
Lori Petty on ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ the Halcyon ‘90s, and Discovering Jennifer Lawrence|Marlow Stern|June 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The world of the military is to the writer admittedly “the polar opposite” of his own.
Geoff Dyer at Sea: Unmoored but on Target|Melissa Holbrook Pierson|May 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Long before that, however, the sun had come back to gladden the Polar regions, and break up the reign of ancient night.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
The same would be the case if the polar axis of one sphere stood precisely at right angles to that of the other.
Outlines of the Earth's History|Nathaniel Southgate Shaler
Thus the wide habitability of the earth is an effect arising from the inclination of its polar axis.
Outlines of the Earth's History|Nathaniel Southgate Shaler
Let us conceive a particle of air situated immediately over the earth's polar axis.
Outlines of the Earth's History|Nathaniel Southgate Shaler
On the equatorial side this air is moving more rapidly than it is on the polar side.
Outlines of the Earth's History|Nathaniel Southgate Shaler

British Dictionary definitions for polar

polar

/ (ˈpəʊlə) /

adjective

situated at or near, coming from, or relating to either of the earth's poles or the area inside the Arctic or Antarctic Circlespolar regions

having or relating to a pole or poles

pivotal or guiding in the manner of the Pole Star

directly opposite, as in tendency or character

chem

Also: heteropolar (of a molecule or compound) being or having a molecule in which there is an uneven distribution of electrons and thus a permanent dipole momentwater has polar molecules
(of a crystal or substance) being or having a crystal that is bound by ionic bondssodium chloride forms polar crystals

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

Scientific definitions for polar

polar

[ pō′lər ]

Relating to a pole, such as the pole of a magnet or one of the electrodes of an electrolytic cell.

Relating to the North Pole or the South Pole of Earth, or analogous regions of another planet.

Relating to a molecule or substance that has polar bonds.

polar

Origin of polar

OTHER WORDS FROM polar

Words nearby polar

Words related to polar

How to use polar in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for polar

Scientific definitions for polar