Meanings
adjectiveplosive (comparative more plosive or plosiver, superlative most plosive or plosivest)
comparative more plosive · comparative plosiver · superlative most plosive · superlative plosivest
- human sciencesProduced from opening a previously closed oral passage.
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
nouna consonant produced by stopping the flow of air at some point and suddenly releasing it
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
- Proto-Italic*eks
- Latinex
- Latinex-
- Proto-Indo-European*pleth₂-?
- Proto-Indo-European*pel-?
- Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-u-h₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-u-d-
- Latinplaudō
- Latinexplodō
- Latinexplōs-
- Englishexplosiveclip.
- Englishplosive
Clipping of explosive.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِنْفِجَارِيّ, صَوْتٌ اِنْفِجَارِيّ
- اِنْفِجَارِيّ (infijāriyy)consonant
- صَوْتٌ اِنْفِجَارِيّ (ṣawtun infijāriyy)consonant
Bulgarian избушен
- избушен (izbušen)produced from opening a previously closed oral passage
Catalan oclusiva
- oclusivaconsonant
Chinese Mandarin 爆發音 /爆发音, 破裂音
- 爆發音 /爆发音 (bàofāyīn)consonant
- 破裂音 (pòlièyīn)consonant
- 塞音 (sèyīn, sàiyīn)consonant
Czech exploziva, okluziva
- explozivaconsonant
- okluzivaconsonant
- závěrová/ražená souhláskaconsonant
- závěrovýproduced from opening a previously closed oral passage
- raženýproduced from opening a previously closed oral passage
Danish lukkelyd, klusil
- lukkelydconsonant
- klusilconsonant
Dutch occlusief, plosief
- occlusiefconsonant
- plosiefconsonant
- plofklankconsonant
Estonian sulghäälik, klusiil
- sulghäälikconsonant
- klusiilconsonant
Finnish klusiili
- klusiiliconsonant
French occlusif
- occlusifconsonant
German Plosiv, Verschlusslaut
- Plosivconsonant
- Verschlusslautconsonant
- Explosivconsonant
Hungarian zárhang, plozíva
- zárhangconsonant
- plozívaconsonant
Icelandic lokhljóð
- lokhljóðconsonant
Italian occlusiva
- occlusivaconsonant
Japanese 破裂音
- 破裂音 (haretsuon)consonant
Korean 파열음
- 파열음 (payeoreum)consonant
Norwegian plosiv
- plosivconsonant
Polish spółgłoska zwarto-wybuchowa, zwarto-wybuchowy
- spółgłoska zwarto-wybuchowaconsonant
- zwarto-wybuchowyproduced from opening a previously closed oral passage
Portuguese oclusiva, plosiva
- oclusivaconsonant
- plosivaconsonant
Romanian oclusivă
- oclusivăconsonant
Russian взрывно́й, смы́чный
- взрывно́й (vzryvnój)consonant
- смы́чный (smýčnyj)consonant
Spanish oclusiva, plosiva
- oclusivaconsonant
- plosivaconsonant
- implosivaconsonant
- oclusivoproduced from opening a previously closed oral passage
- plosivoproduced from opening a previously closed oral passage
Swedish klusil
- klusilconsonant
Ukrainian проривни́й, проривни́й
- проривни́й (proryvnýj)consonant
- проривни́й (proryvnýj)produced from opening a previously closed oral passage
Vietnamese âm tắc
- âm tắcconsonant
Welsh ffrwydrolyn, ffrwydrol
- ffrwydrolynconsonant
- ffrwydrolproduced from opening a previously closed oral passage
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with plosive
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
plosive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plosive
MLA
“plosive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plosive. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “plosive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plosive.
Source: plosive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.