supersonic
Americanadjective
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greater than the speed of sound waves through air.
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capable of achieving such speed.
a supersonic plane.
adjective
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Having a speed greater than that of sound in a designated medium, usually air; having a speed greater than Mach 1.
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Compare hypersonic subsonic transonic
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of supersonic
Compare meaning
How does supersonic compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
It’s faster than the speed of sound, it’s supersonic! Seriously. Supersonic describes things that can travel faster than the speed of sound, like the passenger jet Concorde that used to zip from New York to London in under four hours. Anything supersonic is so fast that you see it before you hear it. A high-speed fighter jet is supersonic, but there aren't any supersonic passenger planes since Concorde's retirement in 2003. Space shuttles and modern bullets are still supersonic. Originally, the word supersonic meant "having to do with sound waves beyond human hearing," but by 1934 it described movement exceeding the speed of sound, with ultrasonic taking on the old meaning. Sonic comes from the Latin sonus, or "sound."
Vocabulary lists containing supersonic
Common Senses: Son ("Sound")
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for March 16–March 22, 2024
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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.
So it goes, even when Hal uses his ring to zip into the sky at supersonic speed from California to Rushville, Nebraska, leaving John to fly coach and rent a car to meet him there.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
If JetZero can cross the line, the blended-wing aircraft would mark the biggest shift in passenger-jetliner design since the supersonic Concorde.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The tri-national Global Combat Air Programme, launched in 2022, aims to develop a supersonic sixth-generation stealth fighter by 2035, replacing the Eurofighter Typhoon used by some European countries.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
During that stage, teams will directly measure the aircraft's supersonic flight signature to confirm that it is producing the quiet supersonic thump it was designed to generate.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 1, 2026
Modeling flight at transonic speeds was a particularly knotty problem, because of the subsonic and supersonic winds that passed over the plane or model simultaneously.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
