static

[ stat-ik ]

See synonyms for: static statics on Thesaurus.com

adjectiveAlso stat·i·cal .

pertaining to or characterized by a fixed or stationary condition.
showing little or no change: a static concept; a static relationship.

lacking movement, development, or vitality: The novel was marred by static characterizations, especially in its central figures.
Sociology. referring to a condition of social life bound by tradition.
Electricity. pertaining to or noting static electricity.
noting or pertaining to atmospheric electricity interfering with radar, radio, the sending and receiving of wireless messages, etc.
Physics. acting by mere weight without producing motion: static pressure.
Economics. pertaining to fixed relations, or different combinations of fixed quantities: static population.
Computers. (of data storage, processing, or programming) unaffected by the passage of time or the presence or absence of power: A static website contains web pages with fixed content that does not change as the user interacts with it.

noun

Electricity.
- static or atmospheric electricity.
- interference due to such electricity.
Informal. difficulty; trouble: Will your dad give you any static on using the car?

Origin of static

First recorded in 1560–70; from New Latin staticus, from Greek statikós, equivalent to sta- (stem of histánai “to make, stand” ) + -tikos adjective suffix; see stand, -tic

word story For static

The adjective static comes into English via New Latin staticus, which dates from the late 16th century and means “relating to weighing.”
Staticus is a straightforward borrowing of Greek statikós with the same meaning. Statica, the feminine singular of staticus, is short for ars statica “the art, science, or technique of weighing,” also dating from the late 16th century, and is a translation of Greek téchnē statikē (which, in the 16th century, wasn't just a matter of putting something on a postage meter or bathroom scale). Statikós is a derivative of the adjective statós “(of a horse or water) standing still.” Statics, the branch of mechanics that deals with bodies at rest or forces in equilibrium, is a derivative of Latin statica and Greek statikē.
The noun sense of static, used in telecommunications and electromagnetics, is a relatively new development, from the late 19th century. It refers to atmospheric electricity and the interference due to it. Out of this developed a figurative sense that we use informally today to complain about someone interfering with what we want to do (that is, giving us trouble or difficulty): “Stop giving me static about this!”

Other words from static

stat·i·cal·ly, adverb
non·stat·ic, adjective
un·stat·ic, adjective
un·stat·i·cal, adjective
un·stat·i·cal·ly, adverb

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

How to use static in a sentence

Lacking that, you don’t know if a static R-naught means the election didn’t change anything, or if it means cases would have fallen otherwise and the election just kept them at the same level.
What Two Studies With Very Different Findings Can Tell Us About Voting In A Pandemic | Maggie Koerth (maggie.koerth-baker@fivethirtyeight.com) | November 2, 2020 | FiveThirtyEight
Trust is not static but can be dynamically built by being a good steward of the customer experience.
Marketing that our collective future depends on | Sponsored Content: Microsoft Advertising | November 2, 2020 | Search Engine Land
If you don’t have a national standard, what you have is a piecemeal approach, and you have absolutely no way of really containing the spread of this virus because people are not going to remain static.
State and local leaders order new restrictions amid autumn’s coronavirus surge | Joel Achenbach, Karin Brulliard | October 29, 2020 | Washington Post
One of the areas most at risk during long-term storage is the pitot-static system, a tiny opening at the front of every jet, and the static port, another cavity a little further along the side of the aircraft.
The world’s grounded jumbo jets sit in this desert parking lot in the middle of nowhere | Bernhard Warner | October 27, 2020 | Fortune
The links that point to your site are static, so it’s very common for older backlinks to point to broken pages.
PageRank sculpting: How to get more from your links | Manick Bhan | October 26, 2020 | Search Engine Watch

Olowu had gotten tired of the Fashion Week slog of runway shows and models posing statically in airless rooms.
Designer Duro Olowu Mixes Fashion and Art in Pop-Up Exhibition | Robin Givhan | February 12, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Hellenised Christianity, proceeds our critic, regarded the incarnation statically, as a fact in past history.
Outspoken Essays | William Ralph Inge
The quarter-moon, statically balanced and free to move about its pivot, basically had two positions.
The Wright Brothers' Engines and Their Design | Leonard S. Hobbs.
In other words, the whole assemblage of effective forces is statically equivalent to the extraneous forces.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 8 | Various
To know it, we have not so much to separate it statically from its works, as to replace it in its history.
A New Philosophy: Henri Bergson | Edouard le Roy
Hence the statically-charged but rotating disk becomes in effect a circular electric current.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 2 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for static

static

/ (ˈstætɪk) /

adjectiveAlso: statical

not active or moving; stationary
(of a weight, force, or pressure) acting but causing no movement

of or concerned with forces that do not produce movement: Compare dynamic (def. 1)
relating to or causing stationary electric charges; electrostatic
of or relating to interference in the reception of radio or television transmissions
of or concerned with statics
sociol characteristic of or relating to a society that has reached a state of equilibrium so that no changes are taking place
computing (of a memory) not needing its contents refreshed periodically: Compare dynamic (def. 5)

noun

random hissing or crackling or a speckled picture caused by the interference of electrical disturbances in the reception of radio or television transmissions
electric sparks or crackling produced by friction

Origin of static

C16: from New Latin staticus, from Greek statikos causing to stand, from histanai to stand, put on the scales

See also statics

Derived forms of static

statically, adverb

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 static

static

[ stăt′ĭk ]

Adjective

Having no motion; being at rest. Compare dynamic.
Relating to or producing static electricity.

Noun

Distortion or interruption of a broadcast signal, such as crackling or noise in a receiver or specks on a television screen, often produced when background electromagnetic radiation in the atmosphere disturbs signal reception or when there are loose connections in the transmission or reception circuits.

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