Meanings
- uncountableThe use, misuse, abuse and general ignorance of the principles of science within the Hollywood film industry, and by extension, more widely in creative media.
"I go for stuff that sounds really fake--that you think is Hollywood science but find out not only is it real, it's topical," he says.
2008, K Heyman, “SCIENCE AND SOCIETY: Talk Nerdy to Me”, in Science2 more examples
Really small organisms (viruses and rickettsia, for instance) aren’t motile (for reasons we will soon be able to guess), but we can explore the consequences of their hypothetical mobility by resorting to science fiction. In a classic example of Hollywood science, the cast of the film The Fantastic Voyage (1966) is placed in a submarine, reduced tremendously in size, injected into the blood stream of a human being, and asked to cruise to the brain to correct some malady.
2002, Mark W. Denny, Steven Gaines, Chance in Biology: Using Probability to Explore Nature, page 120Mr. Cordes paused the movie, turned to the class, and said, “Now, Star Trek is a wonderful show.” […] “[…] But we’re not talking about American culture; we’re talking about science. You can see that if a character on this show uses big, scientific sounding words, the normal audience will think what they're saying about science is true. In this class, I want you to figure out what science REALLY is, not just Hollywood science. Watch this show to be entertained, but not to learn. […]”
2006, Charlotte Reimer, problems with pies, page 14
Cite this entry
Hollywood science. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hollywood%20science
“Hollywood science.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hollywood%20science. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hollywood science,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hollywood%20science.
Source: Hollywood science on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.