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.
The fault line is one of Southern California’s top seismic danger zones because it runs under dense and crowded areas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago nation, sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
Germany is holding its breath this weekend as there is a seismic election in the country's east.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
The research builds on seismic observations collected by NASA's InSight mission, which placed the first seismometer on Mars in 2018 and gave scientists an unprecedented view of the planet's internal structure.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
Over the past week, Malone had put Johnston to work deciphering seismic signals, but Johnston’s specialty was volcanic gases.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
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.
