Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Biology Of, relating to, or forming a nucleus of a cell.
  • adjective Of or relating to atomic nuclei.
  • adjective Using or derived from the energy of atomic nuclei.
  • adjective Of, using, or possessing atomic or hydrogen bombs.
  • adjective Drastic or extreme; radical.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to a nucleus; having the character of a nucleus; constituted by or constituting a nucleus; endoplastic.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective of, pertaining to, or using nuclear weapons.
  • adjective Of, pertaining to, or powered by atomic energy; same as nuclear-powered.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to nations possessing nuclear weapons.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of or relating to or constituting the nucleus of a cell
  • adjective constituting or like a nucleus
  • adjective (weapons) deriving destructive energy from the release of atomic energy
  • adjective of or relating to or constituting the nucleus of an atom

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From nucleus.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From nucleus +‎ -ar.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word nuclear.

Examples

  • VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'Tehran repudiates Sarkozy’s claims'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'Tehran reacted strongly to claims by the French president about the nature of Iran’s nuclear activities, insisting that “nuclear weapon has no place in Iran’s defense doctrine.

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: Tehran repudiates Sarkozy��s claims 2008

  • VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'Iran cites Israeli nuclear activity as example of world\'s hypocrisy'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'Tehran says stringent IAEA inspections are unfair as Israel not partner to non-proliferation treaty, and claims western countries practice \'nuclear apartheid\'.

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: Iran cites Israeli nuclear activity as example of world's hypocrisy 2008

  • Tehran reacted strongly to claims by the French president about the nature of Iran’s nuclear activities, insisting that “nuclear weapon has no place in Iran’s defense doctrine.

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: Tehran repudiates Sarkozy��s claims 2008

  • ·undertaking nuclear hazard / fault identification studies (HAZOP / FMEA) ·nuclear qualitative and nuclear quantitative hazard assessments

    HEADLINES 2009

  • While the global cooling caused by superpower-on-superpower war could be catastrophic hence the term "nuclear winter" a small scale war could have an impact on the world climate, says National Geographic.

    Could A Small Nuclear War Reverse Global Warming? 2011

  • NBA Commissioner David Stern used the term "nuclear winter" to describe a decision that could produce a protracted court battle and cost the sport and its fans, arena workers and nearby restaurant staffs the entire season and perhaps beyond.

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2011

  • Sorry, Mr. President, but there is a dimension of fear properly associated with the word nuclear that is not matched by any oil spill.

    Robert Scheer: No Nukes Is Good Nukes Robert Scheer 2011

  • Sorry, Mr. President, but there is a dimension of fear properly associated with the word nuclear that is not matched by any oil spill.

    Robert Scheer: No Nukes Is Good Nukes Robert Scheer 2011

  • Sorry, Mr. President, but there is a dimension of fear properly associated with the word nuclear that is not matched by any oil spill.

    Robert Scheer: No Nukes Is Good Nukes Robert Scheer 2011

  • "When you work the word Iran into a sentence, you also have to work the word nuclear into a sentence and that's when this becomes a potentially more significant and more serious issue."

    Middle East Tension Lurks as Bull-Market Foil Chris Dieterich 2011

  • Perhaps you've seen the long-term nuclear waste warnings, which researchers developed in the 1980s, creating the field of nuclear semiotics.

    Stones, Clocks, and What We Should Actually Leave Behind Condé Nast 2020

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Dear George, there is only one 'u' in nuclear. Adding more does not endear "u" to me. That is all I have to say about that.

    December 8, 2006

  • Don't say NOO-kyuh-lur (as "uselessness" did), as if the word were spelled "nucular." This variant has long been "a much-derided aberration" (Richard Lederer), and current dictionaries, which rarely stigmatize pronunciations, call it "unacceptable" and "incorrect." Take care to say "nuclear" like "new" + "clear": N(Y)OO-klee-ur. -- The Orthoepist

    June 7, 2010

  • u - *snort*

    June 7, 2010

  • WHAT'S HAPPENING????

    I did not write the comment

    bil​by said:

    I prefer "noo-koo-lur".

    NOR ANY OF THE OTHER HALF A DOZEN BILBY SAID COMMENTS CURRENTLY ON ZEITGEIST.

    June 7, 2010

  • Tell it to the judge, bilby.

    June 7, 2010

  • Very sorry -- just sent you an email. Looking into it right now.

    June 7, 2010

  • BPD?

    ;-)

    June 7, 2010