volcanic

vol·can·ic
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UK/vɒlˈkænɪk/US/vɔlˈkænɪk/cot caught merger/vɑlˈkænɪk/

adjective

Of or pertaining to a volcano or volcanoes.

“volcanic ash”

Less commonScrabble 15

Meanings

adjectivevolcanic (not comparable)
  1. not comparableOf or pertaining to a volcano or volcanoes.

    volcanic heat

    2 more examples

    volcanic activity

    Some 200 million years ago, the rocks that became the Palisades cliffs just across the Hudson River from Manhattan formed during volcanic activity that helped rip apart the ancient supercontinent Pangea. That volcanism helped lead to the birth of the Atlantic Ocean while it also contributed to killing off as much as a quarter of all life on Earth during the event known as the end-Triassic mass extinction.

    2022 February 3, Lucas Joel, “Dissolving in Toxic Oceans: How an Ancient Extinction Happened”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2022
  2. not comparableProduced by a volcano, or, more generally, by igneous agencies.

    volcanic ash

    1 more example

    volcanic tufa

  3. not comparableChanged or affected by the heat of a volcano.
  4. figurativelynot comparableReminiscent of a volcano; explosive, violent, full of suppressed anger, energy etc.

    Jo rose indignified, Vanessa following in her volcanic wake.

    1980 August 2, Andrea F. Loewenstein, “Random Lust”, in Gay Community News, page 15
    2 more examples

    With that the system was complete, and ready to have its disastrous effect on Martin Luther's volcanic temper.

    2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 556

    [Dan Bongino] was in a volcanic mood. As soon as he entered the room, he erupted at Bondi, shouting at her.

    2026 June 10, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, “Inside Trump’s White House, the Epstein Files Caused a Freakout”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
nounvolcanic (plural volcanics)

plural volcanics

  1. A volcanic rock.

    The Ellesmere Island Volcanics are a Late Cretaceous volcanic group of volcanoes and lava flows in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada.

Synonyms & antonyms

of or related to volcanoes

Narrower

adjectiveexplosively unstable

Similar

adjectiveigneous rock produced by eruption and solidified on or near the earth's surface; rhyolite or andesite or basalt

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frenchvolcanique
  2. Englishvolcanic

From French volcanique, from volcan (“volcano”); and/or directly from volcan(o) + -ic.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic بُرْكَانِيّ
  • بُرْكَانِيّ (burkāniyy)of or pertaining to a volcano
Bulgarian вулкани́чен
  • вулкани́чен (vulkaníčen)of or pertaining to a volcano
Catalan volcànic, volcànic
  • volcànicproduced by a volcano
  • volcànicof or pertaining to a volcano
Czech sopečný
  • sopečnýof or pertaining to a volcano
Dutch vulkanisch
  • vulkanischof or pertaining to a volcano
Esperanto vulkana
  • vulkanaof or pertaining to a volcano
Finnish vulkaaninen, vulkaaninen
  • vulkaaninenproduced by a volcano
  • vulkaaninenchanged or affected by the heat of a volcano
  • vulkaaninenof or pertaining to a volcano
  • tulivuori-of or pertaining to a volcano
French volcanique, volcanique
  • volcaniqueproduced by a volcano
  • volcaniquechanged or affected by the heat of a volcano
  • volcaniqueof or pertaining to a volcano
German vulkanisch, vulkanisch
  • vulkanischproduced by a volcano
  • vulkanischchanged or affected by the heat of a volcano
  • vulkanischof or pertaining to a volcano
Hindi ज्वालामुखीय, आग्नेय
  • ज्वालामुखीय (jvālāmukhīya)produced by a volcano
  • आग्नेय (āgney)produced by a volcano
  • ज्वालामुखीय (jvālāmukhīya)of or pertaining to a volcano
  • आग्नेय (āgney)of or pertaining to a volcano
Hungarian vulkáni, vulkáni
  • vulkániproduced by a volcano
  • vulkániof or pertaining to a volcano
Indonesian vulkanis
  • vulkanisof or pertaining to a volcano
Irish bolcánach, bolcánach
  • bolcánachproduced by a volcano
  • bolcánachchanged or affected by the heat of a volcano
  • bolcánachof or pertaining to a volcano
Italian vulcanico, vulcanico
  • vulcanicoproduced by a volcano
  • vulcanicochanged or affected by the heat of a volcano
  • vulcanicoof or pertaining to a volcano
Lithuanian ugnikalninis
  • ugnikalninisof or pertaining to a volcano
Polish wulkaniczny, wulkaniczny
  • wulkanicznyproduced by a volcano
  • wulkanicznychanged or affected by the heat of a volcano
  • wulkanicznyof or pertaining to a volcano
Portuguese vulcânico, vulcânico
  • vulcânicoproduced by a volcano
  • vulcânicoof or pertaining to a volcano
Russian вулкани́ческий, вулкани́ческий
  • вулкани́ческий (vulkaníčeskij)produced by a volcano
  • вулкани́ческий (vulkaníčeskij)changed or affected by the heat of a volcano
  • вулкани́ческий (vulkaníčeskij)of or pertaining to a volcano
Scottish Gaelic bholcànach, bholcànach
  • bholcànachproduced by a volcano
  • bholcànachchanged or affected by the heat of a volcano
  • bholcànachof or pertaining to a volcano
Spanish volcánico
  • volcánicoof or pertaining to a volcano
Swedish vulkanisk, vulkanisk
  • vulkaniskproduced by a volcano
  • vulkaniskchanged or affected by the heat of a volcano
  • vulkaniskof or pertaining to a volcano
Turkish volkanik, volkanik
  • volkanikproduced by a volcano
  • volkanikchanged or affected by the heat of a volcano
  • volkanikof or pertaining to a volcano
Ukrainian вулкані́чний, вулкані́чний
  • вулкані́чний (vulkaníčnyj)produced by a volcano
  • вулкані́чний (vulkaníčnyj)of or pertaining to a volcano

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with volcanic

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

volcanic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/volcanic

MLA

“volcanic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/volcanic. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “volcanic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/volcanic.

Source: volcanic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.