Meanings
- not comparablegeographyMostly composed of rock fragments of volcanic origin or comminuted during an eruption.
Within sixty seconds, the entire area was razed by pyroclastic material with a temperature of nearly two thousand degrees Fahrenheit.
2022, Lindsey Fitzharris, The Facemaker, page 611 more example
The word "ash" is not a very good one to include all the mechanical accompaniments of a subaerial or subaqueous eruption, since ash seems to be restricted to a fine powder, the residuum of combustion. A word is wanting to express all such accompaniments, no matter what their size or condition may be, when they are accumulated in such mass as to form beds of "rock." We might call them perhaps "pyroclastic materials," ...
1862, Joseph Beete Jukes, “Igneous Rocks”, in The Student's Manual of Geology, 2nd edition, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, page 68
plural pyroclastics
- A rock mostly composed of rock fragments of volcanic origin.
The basic volcanics are altered andesites, porphyritic diabases and andesites, and various pyroclastics.
1897, “General Notes: Geology and Paleontology”, in Edward D. Cope, Frederick C. Kenyon, editors, The American Naturalist: An Illustrated Magazine of Natural History, volume 31, Philadelphia: The Edwards & Docker Co., No. 363, page 221
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Ancient Greekπῦρ“fire”
- Englishpyroclastic
From pyro- + clastic, from Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr, “fire”), and κλαστός (klastós, “broken”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan piroclàstic
- piroclàsticcomposed of volcanic rock fragments
Chinese Mandarin 火山碎屑
- 火山碎屑 (huǒshān suìxiè)composed of volcanic rock fragments
Finnish tuliperäinen
- tuliperäinencomposed of volcanic rock fragments
French pyroclastique
- pyroclastiquecomposed of volcanic rock fragments
German pyroklastisch
- pyroklastischcomposed of volcanic rock fragments
Irish pireaclastach
- pireaclastachcomposed of volcanic rock fragments
Italian piroclastico
- piroclasticocomposed of volcanic rock fragments
Polish piroklastyczny
- piroklastycznycomposed of volcanic rock fragments
Spanish piroclástico
- piroclásticocomposed of volcanic rock fragments
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pyroclastic
Cite this entry
pyroclastic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pyroclastic
“pyroclastic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pyroclastic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pyroclastic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pyroclastic.
Source: pyroclastic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.