Kinetic
What It Means
Kinetic has several meanings that all have to do with movement. In physics, kinetic means “of or relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces associated with them”; kinetic energy, for example, is energy associated with motion. More generally, kinetic can be used synonymously with active and lively as well as dynamic and energizing. And kinetic art is art (such as sculpture or assemblage) that has mechanical parts which can be set in motion.
// The novel’s plot is kinetic and fast-paced, and its effect on the reader is much like that of caffeine.
// The loft district is the locus of the city’s kinetic arts scene.
KINETIC in Context
“To study the behavior of elusive animals, scientists routinely tag them with GPS location trackers. But such devices’ battery capacity limits how long they operate. … So biologist Rasmus Worsøe Havmøller of the University of Copenhagen and his colleagues turned to another abundant power source: kinetic energy generated by an animal’s movements. Their kinetic tracker, which Havmøller’s team recently tested on domestic dogs, a wild pony and a European bison, could theoretically survive for the entire life span of an active animal.” — Rachel Crowell, Scientific American, 9 Sept. 2023.
Did You Know?
Ever watch a top spin? Or see one pool ball collide with another and send it across the felt? When you do, you’re witnessing kinetic energy—the energy of something in motion. Kinetics is a branch of science that deals with the effects of forces upon the motions of material bodies, and something described as kinetic has to do with the motion of material bodies and the forces associated with them. Both words were adopted in the 19th century from the Greek word kinētikos (meaning “of motion”) for use in the field of physics, but the adjective kinetic proved too apt for broader application, and by the 1930s it was being used to describe people and things full of literal and figurative energy as well.
Merriam Webster Dictionary
