Thermonuclear

//ˌθɜɹ.moʊˈn(j)uk.li.əɹ// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A thermonuclear weapon.

    "China detonated her first thermonuclear in June 1967."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, or relating to the fusion of atomic nuclei at high temperatures. not-comparable

    "The first thermonuclear reaction was in a star; it was brought about by heat, as the description implies."

  2. 2
    Of, or relating to the use of atomic weapons based on such fusion, especially as distinguished from those based on fission. not-comparable

    "I can't believe you gave me, a ten-year-old boy, a thermonuclear device [...]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    using nuclear weapons based on fusion as distinguished from fission wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
h-bombhydrogen bombnuclear

Example

More examples

"Olaf Stapledon wrote sci-fi about humanity being still essentially an ape, as evolution would unfold as a two-billion-year rollercoaster ride. It was written in 1930, before major pollution and thermonuclear weapons. Will humankind really have time to still evolve?"

Etymology

From thermo- + nuclear.

Related phrases

thermonuclear bombthermonuclear warthermonuclear weapon

More for "thermonuclear"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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