hypersonic

adjective

hy·​per·​son·​ic ˌhī-pər-ˈsä-nik 

1

: of or relating to speed five or more times that of sound in air compare sonic

2

: moving, capable of moving, or utilizing air currents that move at hypersonic speed

hypersonic wind tunnel

hypersonically

ˌhī-pər-ˈsä-ni-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Examples of hypersonic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The submarine, named Perm after a city in the Urals, a mountain range in western Russia, is the first of its kind to carry hypersonic Zircon missiles. —Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025

On Thursday, the Houthis claimed to have launched a hypersonic missile at Israel's Ben Gurion airport. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025

Gold is abundant in the region, which also has rich deposits of rare metals such as coltan, used to make capacitors, and niobium, used to make superalloys for jet engines and hypersonic missiles. —Emmet Livingstone, The Dial, 20 Mar. 2025

Payloads included two satellites for the Missile Defense Agency to track hypersonic missiles and four more satellites for the Tranche 0 constellation for the Space Development Agency. —Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 18 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1946, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for hypersonic

• anharmonic
• anionic
• avionic
• catatonic
• cationic
• chorionic
• cosmogonic
• diachronic
• diatonic
• electronic
• embryonic
• excitonic