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• titanic
  titanic

  adjective

  of or containing titanium, especially in the tetravalent state.
• Titanic
  Titanic

  noun

  RMS Titanic, a British luxury liner that sank after colliding with an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage in April 1912, with a loss of more than 1,500 lives.

titanic

¹ American  

[tahy-tan-ik, ti-] / taɪˈtæn ɪk, tɪ- /

adjective

Chemistry.

1. of or containing titanium, especially in the tetravalent state.

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titanic ² American  

[tahy-tan-ik] / taɪˈtæn ɪk /

adjective

1. (initial capital letter) of, relating to, or characteristic of the Titans.

2. Also titan. of enormous size, strength, power, etc.; gigantic.

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Titanic ³ American  

[tahy-tan-ik] / taɪˈtæn ɪk /

noun

1. RMS Titanic, a British luxury liner that sank after colliding with an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage in April 1912, with a loss of more than 1,500 lives.

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titanic ¹ British  

/ taɪˈtænɪk /

adjective

1. of or containing titanium, esp in the tetravalent state

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titanic ² British  

/ taɪˈtænɪk /

adjective

1. possessing or requiring colossal strength

   a titanic battle

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Titanic ³ British  

/ taɪˈtænɪk /

noun

1. a luxury British liner that struck an iceberg near Newfoundland on its maiden voyage on the night of April 14–15, 1912, with the loss of 1513 lives

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Titanic Cultural  

1. A British luxury ocean liner, thought to be unsinkable, which nevertheless sank on its first voyage in 1912 after running into an iceberg in the north Atlantic Ocean. More than fifteen hundred people drowned.

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Other Word Forms

• titanically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of titanic¹

First recorded in 1820–30; titan(ium) + -ic

Origin of titanic²

From the Greek word Tītānikós, dating back to 1650–60. See Titan, -ic

Explanation

If two rival football teams played a close game that went into overtime, it could be said that winning it was a titanic struggle. This means it took a large amount of force and power to do so. The root word titan is derived from Greek mythology. The Titans were a race of powerful deities. The adjective titanic can now refer to anything extremely large or strong. The Titanic was the name of the famous cruise ship that sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. This name was chosen not only because it was the largest passenger steamship of its time, but also because it was touted as a strong ship, specifically that it was “unsinkable.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

titanic Titanic

Michigan, or the titanic struggle of Joey Chestnut vs. a hot dog, the distinction of greatest rivalry in sports belongs to a showdown that isn’t such a regular fixture on the calendar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

But not all his work was of such a titanic scale.

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026

District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers—to determine a winner in the titanic fight between AI kingpins Elon Musk and Sam Altman.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 17, 2026

The massive ships that glide through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are facing extreme fuel costs as oil prices rise, often paying millions of dollars more to top off their titanic tanks.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026

He was in Ben’s history class where he distinguished himself daily with a titanic ignorance of American history.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

The Titanic ride at Graveley Fruit Farm near Hitchin, Hertfordshire, sees the replica ship lift at one end to slide customers downwards, resembling the sinking of the ocean liner.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

In absolute terms, Hollywood mega-hits such as the "Avatar" films, "Frozen" or "Titanic" made more money but with blockbuster budgets several hundred times the one available to Barker.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

You cannot bail out the Titanic with a soup ladle.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

Of course, not all shipwrecks find themselves in such relatively hospitable conditions—the Titanic, for instance, is slowly being gobbled up by iron-eating bacteria.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

He emigrated from Ireland in 1912, which would have been fine except that the ship he picked was— think Atlas here—the Titanic.

From "Ungifted" by Gordon Korman