ballistic

adjective

bal·​lis·​tic bə-ˈli-stik 

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

bə-ˈli-sti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms of ballistic

• angry
• mad
• indignant
• furious
• enraged
• outraged
• infuriated
• angered
• rabid
• infuriate

Examples of ballistic in a Sentence

she went ballistic when she discovered her brother reading her e-mail

Recent Examples on the Web

Turkey said on Monday that NATO air and missile defense systems intercepted a ballistic munition launched from Iran that entered or approached Turkish airspace, the latest sign that the widening Iran war is increasingly drawing in countries far from the main theaters of fighting. —Steve Mollman, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026

Starting overnight from Monday to Tuesday, Kremlin forces attacked Ukraine in three massive waves, the Ukrainian air force said, initially launching nearly 400 drones and more than 30 ballistic and cruise missiles. —Arkansas Online, 26 Mar. 2026

Iran’s strategy of encirclement of Israel had collapsed, and its ballistic-missile counterpunch was largely deflected by Israeli and Western defenses. —Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026

Comprehensive, multi-layered defense shield The Golden Dome initiative is designed as a comprehensive, multi-layered defense shield capable of detecting and intercepting a wide range of threats, including ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles. —Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 19 Mar. 2026

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

Phrases Containing ballistic

• ballistic missile
• go ballistic

Rhymes for ballistic

• artistic
• autistic
• cladistic
• heuristic
• holistic
• linguistic
• logistic
• monistic
• patristic
• sadistic
• simplistic
• sophistic

Kids Definition

ballistic

adjective

bal·​lis·​tic bə-ˈlis-tik 

: of or relating to ballistics