optical
adjective
op·ti·cal
ˈäp-ti-kəl 
1
: of or relating to the science of optics
2
a
: of or relating to vision : visual
b
: visible sense 1
optical wavelength
c
: of, relating to, or being objects that emit light in the visible range of frequencies
an optical galaxy
d
: using the properties of light to aid vision
an optical instrument
3
a
: of, relating to, or utilizing light especially instead of other forms of energy
optical microscopy
b
: involving the use of light-sensitive devices to acquire information for a computer
optical character recognition
4
: of or relating to optical art
Examples of optical in a Sentence
The company manufactures microscopes, telescopes, and other optical instruments.
an optical illusion that fools most people
Recent Examples on the Web
But selenelion is an optical effect in which Earth's atmosphere bends light slightly over the horizon—this is called atmospheric refraction, which slightly lifts both objects above the horizon from our perspective.
—
Stefanie Waldek, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Mar. 2026
Coherent , Lumentum — Shares of the optical technology companies jumped after Nvidia announced a $2 billion investment in each, aimed at driving research and development in the build-out of artificial intelligence data centers.
—Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 2 Mar. 2026
Commonly understood as a kind of optical binding agent, color consolidates the otherwise disjunctive syntactic elements of Caro’s sculpture into a unified whole.
—Gordon Hughes, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
Cezanne, for example, wanted to repaint Poussin, but from nature, and, in so doing, broke up the canvas’s optical field into hot colors that advanced and cold colors that receded.
—Literary Hub, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for optical
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Stefanie Waldek, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Mar. 2026
Coherent , Lumentum — Shares of the optical technology companies jumped after Nvidia announced a $2 billion investment in each, aimed at driving research and development in the build-out of artificial intelligence data centers.
—Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 2 Mar. 2026
Commonly understood as a kind of optical binding agent, color consolidates the otherwise disjunctive syntactic elements of Caro’s sculpture into a unified whole.
—Gordon Hughes, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
Cezanne, for example, wanted to repaint Poussin, but from nature, and, in so doing, broke up the canvas’s optical field into hot colors that advanced and cold colors that receded.
—Literary Hub, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for optical
Cite this Entry
“Optical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/optical. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
optical
adjective
op·ti·cal
ˈäp-ti-kəl
1
: relating to optics
2
: of or relating to vision
3
a
: of, relating to, or using light
an optical telescope
b
: involving the use of a device that senses light to acquire information for a computer
an optical scanner
Medical Definition
optical
adjective
op·ti·cal
ˈäp-ti-kəl
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