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

Forensic evidence later tied the killing to Buzzard, including ballistic evidence matched by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and DNA analysis by the FBI crime lab, which confirmed the victim’s identity. —Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 10 Jan. 2026

The missile types used in the attack, which began Thursday night, included 22 cruise, 13 ballistic and one medium-range ballistic, according to the Air Force. —Morgan Winsor, ABC News, 9 Jan. 2026

The investigator also sought specifications on the body armor and ballistic shield used by the late officer. —Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 9 Jan. 2026

In addition to the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the nationwide attack involved nearly 250 drones and dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles. —Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 9 Jan. 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