unipolar

adjective

uni·​po·​lar ˌyü-ni-ˈpō-lər 

1

: having or oriented in respect to a single pole: such as

a

: having or involving the use of a single magnetic or electrical pole

b

: based on or controlled by a single factor or view

Despite its strength, the United States does not preside over a unipolar world.

—Fareed Zakaria

2

psychology : being, characteristic of, or affected by unipolar depression

unipolar depressive episodes

unipolar patients

Examples of unipolar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The United States does not exist in a unipolar world, controlling supply chains and economic chokepoints. —Don Graves, Foreign Affairs, 24 Sep. 2025

The fall of the Soviet Union was the beginning of a brief period, from 1991 to 2008, of a unipolar world centered on U.S. global dominance, military power and economic might. —John Rennie Short, The Conversation, 11 Sep. 2025

Chinese President Xi Jinping greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Beijing in a major show of unity and defiance against what all three see as a unipolar world illegitimately dominated by the United States. —Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Sep. 2025

Strategically, the demise of America’s Soviet rival led to the creation of a unipolar world in which the U.S. faced fewer geopolitical constraints in promoting its favored political model. —Time, 3 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1806, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing unipolar

• unipolar depression
• unipolar disorder

Rhymes for unipolar

• ambipolar
• areolar
• bronchiolar
• circumpolar
• equimolar
• monopolar
• multipolar
• nucleolar
• vacuolar
• arteriolar
• microcontroller
• bipolar

Medical Definition

unipolar

adjective

uni·​po·​lar ˌyü-ni-ˈpō-lər 

1

: involving or being an electrode or lead attached to the surface of a bodily site (as the chest) for recording the difference in electrical potential between the site and that of another electrode or lead having zero potential

2

of a neuron : having but one process

3

: being, characteristic of, or affected by unipolar depression

unipolar depressive episodes

unipolar patients

compare bipolar