# explosive

/ɪksˈpɫoʊsɪv/ (US) · /ɛksplˈəʊsɪv/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/explosive
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. likely to explode

adjective · CEFR B2

able to explode or likely to cause an explosion.

For teachers: capable of or likely to cause a sudden, violent release of energy.

- The workers had to be very careful while moving the explosive chemicals.
- The laboratory was evacuated immediately after technicians discovered an explosive mixture had been left in an unventilated container overnight.

### 2. rapidly increasing

adjective · CEFR B2

increasing or growing very quickly in a short time.

For teachers: characterised by a sudden and rapid increase or expansion.

- The city has seen explosive growth in its population over the last decade.
- The explosive expansion of the tech sector transformed the sleepy coastal town into a global hub for innovation within five years.

### 3. easily angered

adjective · CEFR C1 · Informal

likely to become very angry suddenly.

For teachers: tending to have sudden, violent outbursts of temper.

- He has an explosive personality and often shouts when things go wrong.
- Colleagues often avoided the manager during high-pressure weeks, fearing his explosive temper and unpredictable reactions to minor setbacks.

### 4. a substance that explodes

noun · CEFR B2

a substance, like dynamite, that can cause an explosion.

For teachers: a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion.

- The police found a small amount of illegal explosives in the basement.
- Demolition experts placed the explosives at strategic points along the base of the old stadium to ensure a controlled collapse.

### 5. linguistics

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical · Archaic

a speech sound made by stopping the air and then letting it out suddenly.

For teachers: a consonant produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract and then releasing it suddenly. Often used as a synonym for 'plosive'.

- The teacher explained how to pronounce the explosive 'p' sound clearly.
- In older phonetic texts, the term explosive was frequently employed to describe the sudden release of breath characteristic of sounds like /b/ and /k/.

## Examples

- The workers used a powerful explosive to clear the rocks.
- Security teams at the airport are trained to detect any trace of a liquid explosive in passenger luggage.
- Demolition experts carefully calculated the placement of each explosive to ensure the old stadium collapsed inward without damaging the surrounding residential blocks.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.