Forensic

//fəˈɹɛn.zɪk// adj, slang

adj, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Relating to the use of science and technology in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence in a court of law. not-comparable

    "In this account of events, the cards were stacked against Clemons from the beginning. His appeal lawyers have argued that he was physically beaten into making a confession, the jury was wrongfully selected and misdirected, and his conviction largely achieved on individual testimony with no supporting forensic evidence presented."

  2. 2
    Relating to, or appropriate for, courts of law; suitable or adapted to legal argumentation. dated, not-comparable

    "Varus trusted implicitly […] to the interest which they affected to take in the forensic eloquence of their conquerors."

  3. 3
    Precise, thorough, or highly meticulous, by analogy with a scientific legal investigation. informal, not-comparable

    "A forensic account of history"

  4. 4
    Relating to, or used in, debate or argument. archaic, not-comparable
Adjective
  1. 1
    used or applied in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence in a court of law wordnet
  2. 2
    of, relating to, or used in public debate or argument wordnet

Example

More examples

"The forensic technician found gunshot residue on the victim's hand."

Etymology

From Latin forēnsis (“of the forum, public”) + -ic, from forum (“forum, marketplace”).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.