radioactive

adjective

ra·​dio·​ac·​tive ˌrā-dē-ō-ˈak-tiv 

1

: of, caused by, or exhibiting radioactivity

radioactive isotopes

Radon is an odorless, colorless gas that arises naturally from the ground because of the decay of radioactive elements commonly found in rocks and many types of soil. In a chain of radioactive decay, uranium produces radium, which gives off radon, which in turn produces radioactive breakdown products that are harmful if inhaled.

—Warren E. Leary

2

: so divisive or controversial as to require avoidance

He has been deemed radioactive by most charitable organizations … and organized competition, even local stuff, is largely closed off to him.

—Asher Price

Almost all women—and therefore men—use a form of birth control at some point in their lives, yet contraception is so politically and legally radioactive that legislators and pharmaceutical companies avoid funding it.

—Karen Weise

Subsequent polling data show that the quota issue is perhaps the most powerful one in our politics … A House Democratic aide says, "The quota issue is radioactive." The result has been nothing less than panic in the Democratic ranks.

—Elizabeth Drew

radioactively adverb

Plutonium is the only one of these transuranic elements that can exist a fair amount of time before radioactively decaying into lighter elements.

—James Kaler

Examples of radioactive in a Sentence

Uranium and plutonium are radioactive.

Recent Examples on the Web

Critics said measurable radioactive materials remain in and around the Rocky Flats site and will remain for thousands of years, the media group reported. Follow me on Twitter. —Gary Stoller, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024

Perhaps Pluto’s core has radioactive elements that impart an additional source of heat. —Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024

While nuclear power is clean, nuclear fission, the process to produce it, uses radioactive materials that can cause deadly levels of radiation if released into the environment in an accident. —Diane Brady, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2024

The double Nobel Prize winner is most famous for her discovery of radioactivity, as well as the radioactive elements radium and polonium. —Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

radioactive

adjective

ra·​dio·​ac·​tive ˌrād-ē-ō-ˈak-tiv 

: of, caused by, or exhibiting radioactivity

radioactively adverb

Medical Definition

radioactive

adjective

ra·​dio·​ac·​tive ˌrād-ē-ō-ˈak-tiv 

: of, caused by, or exhibiting radioactivity

radioactive isotopes

radioactively adverb