ballistic

adjective

bal·​lis·​tic bə-ˈli-stik 

1

: extremely and usually suddenly excited, upset, or angry : wild

He went ballistic when he saw the dent in his car.

and the crowd goes ballistic

2

: of or relating to the science of the motion of projectiles in flight

3

exercise : being or characterized by repeated bouncing

ballistic stretching

4

physics, of an object in motion : behaving like a projectile

But the Bell Labs switch uses such a low current that the few ballistic electrons are a distance of a micrometer or more apart …

—Robert Pool

5

of a material : capable of resisting or stopping bullets or other projectiles

ballistic glass

ballistic nylon

… engineered specifically to be worn under ballistic vests and shirts.

—K. M. Reese

ballistically

bə-ˈli-sti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms of ballistic

• angry
• mad
• indignant
• furious
• enraged
• outraged
• infuriated
• angered
• rabid
• infuriate

Examples of ballistic in a Sentence

she went ballistic when she discovered her brother reading her e-mail

Recent Examples on the Web

If video can’t be located and there is no ballistic evidence found at the scene — and there are no reliable witnesses — the job gets marked unfounded. — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026

Russia is quickly stepping up production of the kind of ballistic and cruise missiles that can dangerously exploit Ukraine’s shortage of interceptor missiles. — Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026

Russian ballistic attacks have risen fast in recent weeks, hitting the capital Kyiv particularly hard, as Moscow exploits Ukraine’s near-zero stocks of Patriot interceptor missiles. — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026

It is controlled using a four-axis joystick and includes automatic landing, motor redundancy and a ballistic parachute. — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 9 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin ballisticus "relating to the motion of projectiles in flight," from Latin ballista ballista + New Latin -icus -ic entry 1

Note: The Latin word was apparently introduced by the French priest and polymath Marin Mersenne (1588-1648) in Ballistica et acontismologia, a section (with separate title page) of his Cogitata physico-mathematica (Paris, 1644).

First Known Use

1764, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing ballistic

• ballistic missile
• go ballistic

Rhymes for ballistic

• artistic
• autistic
• cladistic
• heuristic
• holistic
• linguistic
• logistic
• monistic
• patristic
• sadistic
• simplistic
• sophistic

Kids Definition

ballistic

adjective

bal·​lis·​tic bə-ˈlis-tik 

: of or relating to ballistics