ballistic

adjective

bal·​lis·​tic bə-ˈli-stik How to pronounce ballistic (audio)
1
: extremely and usually suddenly excited, upset, or angry : wild
He went ballistic when he saw the dent in his car.
and the crowd goes ballistic
2
: of or relating to the science of the motion of projectiles in flight
3
exercise : being or characterized by repeated bouncing
ballistic stretching
4
physics, of an object in motion : behaving like a projectile
But the Bell Labs switch uses such a low current that the few ballistic electrons are a distance of a micrometer or more apart …Robert Pool
5
of a material : capable of resisting or stopping bullets or other projectiles
ballistic glass
ballistic nylon
… engineered specifically to be worn under ballistic vests and shirts.K. M. Reese
ballistically adverb

Examples of ballistic in a Sentence

she went ballistic when she discovered her brother reading her e-mail
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Sitting in the visiting manager’s office at Yankee Stadium, Brewers manager Pat Murphy declined to go ballistic over the torpedo bats that blew up his pitching staff over the first three games of the season. Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 30 Mar. 2025 Prior to his painting, this transfer class, now called ballistic capture transfers, or weak stability boundary (WSB) transfers, did not exist, Belbruno said. Leonard David, Space.com, 27 Mar. 2025 In their letter to the attorneys for Balaji’s parents, the police chief said gunshot residue from the gun was found on both of Balaji’s hands, and that a ballistic test confirmed that the gun was the same one used by Balaji during his suicide. Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2025 Officers reviewed ballistic evidence and security camera footage and broadcast a description of two suspects fleeing in a motor vehicle. Isabelle Friedman, Boston Herald, 9 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ballistic

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin ballisticus "relating to the motion of projectiles in flight," from Latin ballista ballista + New Latin -icus -ic entry 1

Note: The Latin word was apparently introduced by the French priest and polymath Marin Mersenne (1588-1648) in Ballistica et acontismologia, a section (with separate title page) of his Cogitata physico-mathematica (Paris, 1644).

First Known Use

1764, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of ballistic was in 1764

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Cite this Entry

“Ballistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ballistic. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

ballistic

adjective
bal·​lis·​tic bə-ˈlis-tik How to pronounce ballistic (audio)
: of or relating to ballistics

More from Merriam-Webster on ballistic

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