unipolar

American  

[yoo-nuh-poh-ler] / ˌju nəˈpoʊ lər /

adjective

1. Physics. Also having or pertaining to a single magnetic or electric pole.

2. Anatomy. of or relating to a nerve cell in spinal and cranial ganglia in which the incoming and outgoing processes fuse outside the cell body.

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unipolar British  

/ ˌjuːnɪˈpəʊlə /

adjective

1. of, concerned with, or having a single magnetic or electric pole

2. (of a nerve cell) having a single process

3. (of a transistor) utilizing charge carriers of one polarity only, as in a field-effect transistor

4. (of nervous depression) occurring without accompanying bouts of mania

5. dominated by one superpower, esp the United States See bipolar

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Other Word Forms

• unipolarity
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of unipolar

First recorded in 1805–15; uni- + polar

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

unipolar

Yet if the U.S. has truly entered a unipolar moment, why are allies behaving as though American commitments remain uncertain?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

History shows, however, that such unipolar moments are fleeting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026

While America’s "unipolar moment" would surely not "continue for centuries," its end, he predicted, “seems a long way off for now.”

From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2024

And many patients who wind up with the label of bipolar disorder are initially misdiagnosed with unipolar depression.

From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2024

It is not devoid of interest to note that Erman, a German scholar, once very celebrated and now generally forgotten, drew attention as early as 1815 to the unipolar conductivity of a flame.

From The New Physics and Its Evolution by Lucien Poincaré

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