Synonyms of nucleus

nucleus

noun

ˈnü-klē-əs 

1

as in center

a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest

a college campus that was a nucleus of opposition to the war

Synonyms & Similar Words

• center
• hub
• capital
• mecca
• core
• base
• heart
• focus
• locus
• seat
• central
• axis
• nexus
• nerve center
• epicenter
• ground zero
• headquarters
• navel
• playground
• cynosure
• omphalos
• eye
• where it's at
• hive
• magnet
• hotbed
• kernel
• essence
• attraction
• hot spot
• pith
• playland
• thick
• soul
• nub
• happy hunting ground
• quintessence
• polestar
• deep
• lodestone

2

as in core

the central part or aspect of something under consideration

the nucleus of the movement's methodology has always been passive resistance

Synonyms & Similar Words

• core
• heart
• essence
• root
• kernel
• sum
• point
• meat
• bottom line
• sum and substance
• centerpiece
• pivot
• net
• pith
• crux
• nub
• gist
• subject
• the long and short
• keynote
• nubbin
• direction
• theme
• tenor
• substance
• bull's-eye
• meat and potatoes
• body
• content
• drift
• course
• hypothesis
• proposition
• thesis
• purport

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of nucleus

Jets of dust were expelled from the nucleus with explosive intensity. — Joe Rao, Space.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Those elementary particles, first detected experimentally in 1956, travel through space, interacting only rarely with electrons and atomic nuclei. — Daniella McCahey, The Conversation, 12 Oct. 2026

Hermeneutics as a gateway to the nucleus of spoken language, the same feeling as during childhood experiments with secret codes. — Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2026

The approach shifts the timing mechanism from electrons to the atomic nucleus. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2026