kinetic
adjective
Did you know?
Ever watch a top spin? Or see one pool ball collide with another and send it across the felt? When you do, you’re witnessing kinetic energy—the energy of something in motion. Kinetics is a branch of science that deals with the effects of forces upon the motions of material bodies, and something described as kinetic has to do with the motion of material bodies and the forces associated with them. Both words were adopted in the 19th century from the Greek word kinētikos (meaning "of motion") for use in the field of physics, but the adjective kinetic proved too apt for broader application, and by the 1930s it was being used to describe people and things full of literal and figurative energy as well.
Examples of kinetic in a Sentence
Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Punching through the terrain in this manner forms the fast, crunchy, and powerfully kinetic core of the game.
—ArsTechnica, 16 July 2025
Which is why Iris van Herpen’s work, both futuristic and deliberately kinetic, has always been so mesmerizing: skirts that jounce like jellyfish, extrusions that tremble like palm fronds, and sleeves (or sleeve-like appendages) that flutter like butterfly wings.
—New York Times, 9 July 2025
Known for kinetic comedy gravitating between social rage and self-doubt, Pepitone has been working as a comic since the late 1970s.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for kinetic
Cite this Entry
“Kinetic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kinetic. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
kinetic
adjective
from Greek kinētikos "relating to motion," derived from kinein "to move" — related to cinema
Medical Definition
kinetic
adjective
kī-
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