Explosive

How to spell explosive

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce explosive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does explosive mean?

1. adjectiveLiable to explode, or capable of bursting out with sudden violent force.
2. nounA substance that can cause a sudden, violent release of energy when triggered.

Explosive in a sentence

• adjective

  The warehouse stored several drums of highly explosive chemicals.

• noun

  The engineers used a controlled explosive to demolish the old bridge.

• adjective

  His explosive temper made the staff meeting tense.

• noun

  Airport scanners are designed to detect any hidden explosive.

Where does explosive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb explodere, which literally meant 'to drive off the stage by clapping', built from ex- 'out, away' and plaudere 'to clap or applaud'. In Roman theatres an unwanted performer was hissed and clapped out, so the original sense was about a noisy, forceful expulsion rather than a blast. By the seventeenth century English had reshaped the idea around the violent bursting and loud noise of gunpowder, and 'explode' came to mean a sudden burst of force. The adjective 'explosive' followed, describing anything prone to such a burst, and a noun use for blasting substances arrived during the nineteenth century. The same plaudere root survives in 'applaud' and 'plaudits', a reminder that the spelling keeps the older 'plos' element from the Latin past participle explosus.

How the word is built

• ex- (out)
• plos- (from plaudere/plodere: to clap, drive away)
• -ive (adjective/noun suffix)