English Reference

Word

supercomputer

Phoneticssu·per·com·put·er

US/ˌsupɝkəmˈpjutɝ/

UK/sˌuːpəkəmpjˈuːtɐ/

Definition

n. a computer that is much faster and more powerful than a normal one. It can solve very complex problems in a short amount of time.

n. a high-performance computing system capable of performing at least one petaflop of processing power. Often used for scientific simulations, weather forecasting, or complex data analysis.

Examples

“The university uses a supercomputer to study climate change.”

“Researchers are using a supercomputer to model how proteins fold, which could lead to new medical treatments.”

“Modern supercomputers are no longer just about raw processing speed; they are designed for massive parallelism to handle the data-intensive requirements of artificial intelligence and quantum physics.”

Examples

simple

“The university uses a supercomputer to study climate change.”

contextual

“Researchers are using a supercomputer to model how proteins fold, which could lead to new medical treatments.”

complex

“Modern supercomputers are no longer just about raw processing speed; they are designed for massive parallelism to handle the data-intensive requirements of artificial intelligence and quantum physics.”

Real-World Examples

“The Opta supercomputer has given Barcelona a 66 percent chance of winning the match, while Athletic are only afforded a 15 percent chance.”
Al Jazeera · 26 Aug 2026
“The Opta supercomputer has given Real Madrid a 66 percent chance of winning the match, while Sociedad are only afforded a 15 percent chance.”
Al Jazeera · 25 Aug 2026

Domain

Computing

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/supercomputer

English Reference