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ceramic

American  
[suh-ram-ik] / səˈræm ɪk /

adjective

  1. of or relating to products made from clay and similar materials, as pottery and brick, or to their manufacture.

    ceramic art.

noun

  1. ceramic material.

ceramic British  
/ sɪˈræmɪk /

noun

  1. a hard brittle material made by firing clay and similar substances

  2. an object made from such a material

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or made from a ceramic

    this vase is ceramic

  2. of or relating to ceramics

    ceramic arts and crafts
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
ceramic Scientific  
/ sə-răm′ĭk /

  1. Any of various hard, brittle, heat- and corrosion-resistant materials made typically of metallic elements combined with oxygen or with carbon, nitrogen, or sulfur. Most ceramics are crystalline and are poor conductors of electricity, though some recently discovered copper-oxide ceramics are superconductors at low temperatures.

Etymology

Origin of ceramic

1840–50; variant of keramic < Greek keramikós, equivalent to kéram ( os ) potters' clay + -ikos -ic

Explanation

Something that's ceramic is made out of clay and baked in a kiln until it's very hard. If you sign up for a pottery class, you will almost certainly make ceramic bowls. Ceramics, also known as pottery, describes any dishes or other items made from hardened clay. You might have ceramic tile in your bathroom or kitchen, or a beautiful ceramic vase on your mantle. If you're an artist who makes clay sculptures, your art form itself is also ceramics. The word comes from the Greek keramos, "potter's earth."

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One fan I spoke to, Carmelo Hernandez, dedicates hours to handcrafting ceramic dinosaur sculptures.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026

There are dozens of hand-crafted ceramic tiles on the wall – each bearing a tribute to a lost baby.

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026

Magnani was a benefactor and close friend of the reclusive artist, known for his muted still lifes of different ceramic vessels in various configurations.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Unlike conventional storage systems, these ceramic data carriers can remain intact indefinitely and do not require any energy to maintain the stored information.

From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026

She gets a bracelet from Sam, and a ceramic bowl that I made in art class.

From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.