seismic
Americanadjective
adjective
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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
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.
Another important instrument will be a short-period seismometer, designed to detect vibrations and seismic activity, including moonquakes.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Heaton: Those seismic changes are such a strange thing to go through.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The case against Manchester City had been building for nearly a decade before the seismic news finally landed this week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
Carla Lockhart, a local MP from the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, called the appeal overturn "seismic" and said residents had nothing to fear.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
I haven’t cured anything, but something seismic is happening in me.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
