nuclear

/ˈnjuː.klɪə(ɹ)/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Canada/ˈn(j)u.kli.ɚ/

nuclear adjective: pertaining to the nucleus of an atom.

Adjective

nuclear (not comparable)

Pertaining to the nucleus of an atom.
Involving energy released by nuclear reactions (fission, fusion, radioactive decay).
- a nuclear reactor
- nuclear technology
Relating to a weapon that derives its force from rapid release of energy through nuclear reactions.
- a nuclear explosion
- a nuclear power
Having nuclear weapons.
- They will blame him for pursuing the ideological aim of destruction of Israel – something many Iranians don't support. They will blame him for what they perceive as a folly – his belief that achieving nuclear status would render his regime invincible.2025 June 26, Kasra Naji, “When Iran's supreme leader emerges from hiding he will find a very different nation”, in BBC
(broadly, figuratively) Involving an extreme course of action, or one with severe consequences.
- nuclear option, nuclear solution
- The states begging for aid get turned away; and sharp cuts in government employment, spending, and, eventually, pension payments are the only alternative future, beyond the nuclear solution of defaulting on our debt.2011, Todd Lipscomb, Re-Made in the USA, →ISBN
Pertaining to the nucleus of a cell.
- However, the DNA in a bacterial cell is a single circular molecule and there is no separate nuclear compartment.2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 17
(archaic) Pertaining to a centre around which something is developed or organised; central, pivotal.
- Nuclear Polynesian languages include Hawaiian and Samoan.
Relating to, being of, or comprising the nuclear family.
- Somehow it is much easier to convey the emotions of gayness — the feelings of outsideness —through anthropomorphism. Gay poet and limerist Edward lear uses animals and creatures perfectly this way […] Even the Muppets — as mainstream and heterosexual as some of them may be — are favorites among...1986 December 7, Michael Bronsky, “Gay Man's Dream Realized in Benefit Production of archy and mehitabel"”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 21, page 7

Noun

nuclear (countable and uncountable, plural nuclears)

Nuclear power.
- The growth in wind capacity at first lagged behind the expansion of nuclear installations, but then it started to grow faster and is now outpacing nuclear.2015, Vital Signs Volume 22: The Trends That Are Shaping Our Future, The Worldwatch Institute
Nuclear weapon
- Admiral Burke believed that we would be able to beat off an amphibious attack, even if staged in conjunction with heavy aerial bombing, long enough to refer back to Washington and obtain authorization to use nuclears.1958, Foreign Relations of the United States (page 118)

nuclear meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

nuclear in Hindi

pertaining to the atomic nucleus: नाभिकीय nābhikīya
involving nuclear energy: नाभिकीय nābhikīya
of a weapon: deriving its force from nuclear energy: नाभिकीय nābhikīya, कंद्रकीय kandrakīya
pertaining to the nucleus of a cell: केंद्रक kendrak, केंद्रकीय kendrakīya, नाभिकीय nābhikīya

nuclear in Tamil

கருவிற்குரிய, கருவுக்குரிய, அணுக்கரு, உயிரணுக்கருவின், உயிரணுக்கருவிற்குறிய

nuclear in Urdu

involving nuclear energy: جَوہَری jauharī
of a weapon: deriving its force from nuclear energy: جَوہَری jauharī

More languagesFewer languages

nuclear in Bengali: পারমাণবিক
nuclear in Telugu: అణు
nuclear in Malayalam: ആണവ āṇava
nuclear in Kannada: ಪರಮಾಣುಶಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದ, ಅಣುಚಾಲಿತವಾದ, ಪರಮಾಣುವಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದ, ಅಣ್ವಸ್ತ್ರಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿರುವ
nuclear in Punjabi: ਪ੍ਰਮਾਣੂ, ਨਿਊਕਲੀਅਰ
nuclear in Gujarati: અણુ aṇu
nuclear in Odia: ଆଣବିକ, ପାରମାଣବିକ
nuclear in Nepali: आणविक, नाभिकीय, न्युक्लियर
nuclear in Tagalog: buturanin
nuclear in Arabic: نَوَوِيّ nawawiyy
nuclear in Malay: nuklear
nuclear in Indonesian: nuklir
nuclear in Thai: ปรมาณู bpà-rá-maa-nuu, นิวเคลียร์ niu-kliia, นิวเคลียส niu-klíias
nuclear in Vietnamese: hạt nhân, hạt
nuclear in Myanmar: နျူကလိယ nyuka.li.ya.

Examples of nuclear in a sentence

The nuclear approach is the simpler of the two.2013, Erica Sadun, iOS Auto Layout Demystified, →ISBN, page 150:
For the sake of workplace harmony: keep your pointer off the nuclear button.2017 February 3, Elle Hunt, “When is it appropriate to reply all? Mostly never”, in The Guardian:
Toad in The Wind in the Willows, such a silly, pompous queen, and even Randall Jarrell's The Animal Family has a lot to say about non-human and non-nuclear arrangements.1986 December 7, Michael Bronsky, “Gay Man's Dream Realized in Benefit Production of archy and mehitabel"”, in Gay Community News, volume...

All 40 example sentences with nuclear

Forms of nuclear

plural	nuclears

Origin of nuclear

From Latin nū̆cleus, a contraction of the adjective nuculeus, masculine of feminine nuculea (“pertaining to a small nut”) from nucula + adjectival suffix -eus, -ea, -eum. The Latin nucula + -āris adds up to nuculāris, a term that in English becomes nucular; the Latin nuculea + -āris, becomes Latin nuculeāris (“relative to what pertains to small nut”), later contracted into nuclear. By surface analysis, nucleus + -ar. Compare muscle and Latin mūsculus; muscular and mūsculāris.

Words formed from nuclear

Phrases with nuclear

127 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about nuclear

What does nuclear mean?: Nuclear means pertaining to the nucleus of an atom.
What is nuclear in Hindi?: Nuclear in Hindi is नाभिकीय (nābhikīya), कंद्रकीय (kandrakīya), केंद्रक (kendrak). See Nuclear meaning in Hindi.
How do you use nuclear in a sentence?: The nuclear approach is the simpler of the two.
What part of speech is nuclear?: Nuclear can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce nuclear?: Nuclear is pronounced /ˈn(j)u.kli.ɚ/ (Canada).

Words near nuclear in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: nuclear (page history and authors); nuclear (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nuclear (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nuclear (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nuclear (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nuclear (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nuclear (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); અણુ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); nuclear (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nuclear (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-ca-nuclear.ogg, en-uk-nuclear.ogg, en-us-nuclear.ogg.

Cite this entry: “nuclear.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nuclear. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.