seismic
Americanadjective
adjective
-
Also (less commonly): seismical. relating to or caused by earthquakes or artificially produced earth tremors
-
of enormous proportions or having highly significant consequences
seismic social change
Other Word Forms
- nonseismic adjective
- seismically adverb
- unseismal adjective
- unseismic adjective
Etymology
Origin of seismic
Explanation
For the ancient Greeks, "seismos" meant an earthquake. Later on, when the study of earthquakes became a science, anything seismic meant anything related to the study of the pressures in the Earth's crust. The English language has a long and proud tradition of stealing scientific words and applying them in all sorts of ways that scientists probably wish they didn't: Darwinian, tempestuous, evolutionary — to name but three. It's the same with seismic, which is now far more likely to be applied to political or psychological turmoil than anything to do with the earth opening up and molten hot lava spewing out.
Vocabulary lists containing seismic
Brace Yourself: Earthquake Words
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Super Seismic: Words for Volcanoes and Earthquakes
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This Week in Words: November 26 - December 1, 2017
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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.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the company is conducting seismic work to find oil and gas in the country’s deep waters.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
To investigate the eclipse's impact, Fernando analyzed seismic data collected throughout April 2024 from several hundred monitoring stations.
From Science Daily • Apr. 18, 2026
Nonetheless, if Saudi Arabia did seriously reduce or even end its commitment to the breakaway series, it would still be a seismic development for the sport.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
Govan acknowledged that below-grade costs were quite large because they went toward 56 seismic base isolators, which can move 5 feet in any direction in the event of an earthquake.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
It is a rectangle in black, and once it has settled into place, it shakes silently as though there is some kind of seismic disturbance on the planet beneath the quarter moon.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
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.
