kinetic

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κινητικός (kinētikós, “puts in motion”), from κινέω (kinéō, “I move, put in motion”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɪˈnɛtɪk/, /kaɪˈnɛtɪk/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛtɪk

Adjective

kinetic (not comparable)

1. Relating to motion.
2. Relating to kinesis or motor function.
3. (biology) Relating to the movement of an organism in response to an external stimulus.
4. (philosophy) Relating to the force driving life forward.
5. (military, euphemistic) Relating to active warfare or the use of lethal force.^[W]
6. (slang) Frantic; busy.
   • 1997, Hollywood Confidential (film):

     Sorry it took so long; it's been kind of kinetic around here.

   • 2020, Andrew Vaillencourt, Sullivan's Gift: Hegemony: Book 3:

     Their enthusiasm and group cohesion helped when things got kinetic.

Synonyms

• active
• animated
• dynamic
• vigorous

Antonyms

• static
• lazy
• logic
• sluggish

Derived terms

• kinetic architecture
• kinetic art
• kinetic energy
• kinetic novel
• kinetic sand
• kinetic scrolling
• kinetic sculpture
• kinetic temperature
• kinetic typography
• post-kinetic

 

Related terms

• cinema
• kinesis
• kinesthetic

Translations

relating to motion

• Catalan: cinètic (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 運動的／运动的 (zh) (yùndòng de), 動的／动的 (zh) (dòng de)

• Czech: kinetický
• Danish: kinetisk, bevægelsesmæssig, motorisk
• Dutch: kinetisch (nl)
• Esperanto: kineta
• Estonian: kineetiline
• Finnish: kineettinen (fi)
• French: cinétique (fr)
• German: kinetisch
• Greek: κινητικός (el) (kinitikós)
• Irish: cinéiteach
• Italian: cinetico (it)
• Japanese: 動的 (ja) (どうてき, dōteki), 運動の (ja) (うんどうの, undō no)
• Korean: 운동의 (ko) (undong'ui)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kinetisk

  Nynorsk: kinetisk

• Polish: kinetyczny m
• Portuguese: cinético
• Romanian: cinetic (ro)
• Russian: кинети́ческий (ru) (kinɛtíčeskij)
• Spanish: cinético (es)
• Swedish: kinetisk (sv)
• Tagalog: kilusin