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

• angered
• angry
• apoplectic
• cheesed off [chiefly British]
• choleric
• enraged
• foaming
• fuming
• furious
• hopping
• horn-mad
• hot
• incensed
• indignant
• inflamed
• enflamed
• infuriate
• infuriated
• irate
• ireful
• livid
• mad
• outraged
• rabid
• rankled
• riled
• riley
• roiled
• shirty [chiefly British]
• sore
• steamed up
• steaming
• teed off
• ticked
• wrathful
• wroth

Examples of ballistic in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

He was dressed in full black and wore a gas mask and ballistic helmet over his face and head in addition to a bullet-resistant vest, leggings, throat protector, groin protector and tactical gloves. —Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 28 Nov. 2024

Recently, researchers blew this ballistic mystery wide open. —Mindy Weisberger, CNN, 27 Nov. 2024

Its speed and altitude suggest intercontinental ballistic capabilities. —Matt Robison, Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2024

Simply create a ballistic profile for your shooting equipment, upload it to the Thermion's memory with the Stream Vision Ballistics App, and turn your Thermion 2 LRF XL50 into a highly accurate and efficient long-range aiming tool. —Chris Dorsey, Forbes, 21 Nov. 2024

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

Kids Definition

ballistic

adjective

bal·​lis·​tic bə-ˈlis-tik 

: of or relating to ballistics