nuclear
/ˈn(j)u.kli.ɚ/adjective, noun
nuclear is spelled N-U-C-L-E-A-R. The wrong spelling people search most is nuculear: about 30 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 133 of all searches for the word. Nuclear is an adjective meaning “Pertaining to the nucleus of an atom”.
How many letters and syllables are in nuclear?
| Letters | 7: N-U-C-L-E-A-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 54 times per million words; the 1,899th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, nuculear, about 30 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell nuclear?
Nuclear is spelled N-U-C-L-E-A-R. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 133 of the searches for nuclear in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is nuclear?
Nuclear appears 54 times per million words in written English, the 1,899th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nuclear?
- Canada /ˈn(j)u.kli.ɚ/
- UK /ˈnjuː.klɪə(ɹ)/
- US /ˈn(j)u.kli.ɚ/
Nuclear has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-ca-nuclear.ogg, En-uk-nuclear.ogg, En-us-nuclear.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with nuclear?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as nuclear from its last stressed vowel (/ukliəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: unclear.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of nuclear
- nuclears plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nuclear mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to the nucleus of an atom.
- 2
Involving energy released by nuclear reactions (fission, fusion, radioactive decay).
a nuclear reactor
- 3
Relating to a weapon that derives its force from rapid release of energy through nuclear reactions.
a nuclear explosion
- 4
Having nuclear weapons.
- 5
Involving an extreme course of action, or one with severe consequences.
nuclear option, nuclear solution
- 6
Pertaining to the nucleus of a cell.
- 7
archaicPertaining to a centre around which something is developed or organised; central, pivotal.
Nuclear Polynesian languages include Hawaiian and Samoan.
- 8
Relating to, being of, or comprising the nuclear family.
noun
- 1
Nuclear power.
- 2
Nuclear weapon
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate nuclear?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of nuclear: CBN, NBC.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nuclear in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nuclear come from?
From Latin nū̆cleus, a contraction of the adjective nuculeus, masculine of feminine nuculea (“pertaining to a small nut”) from nucula + adjectival suffix -eus, -ea, -eum. The Latin nucula + -āris adds up to nuculāris, a term that in English becomes nucular; the Latin nuculea + -āris, becomes Latin nuculeāris (“relative to what pertains to small nut”), later contracted into nuclear. By surface analysis, nucleus + -ar. Compare muscle and Latin mūsculus; muscular and mūsculāris.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).