hermetically

adverb

her·​met·​i·​cal·​ly (ˌ)hər-ˈme-ti-k(ə-)lē How to pronounce hermetically (audio)
: in an airtight manner : so as to be completely airtight
usually used in the phrase hermetically sealed
They have their digitally alarmed, healthfully air-conditioned, hermetically sealed knotty-pine wine cellars …Alan Richman
Designed for field use, the unit has a hermetically sealed touch keypad with six widely spaced keys suited for gloved operation.Oil & Gas Journal
… the entire manufacturing process takes place inside "clean rooms"—hermetically sealed factories where elaborate filtration systems keep the air a thousand times purer than in the best hospital operating rooms.Michael Rothschild
(figurative) … creating a world so self-absorbed, so hermetically sealed, that its connection to public life is severed altogether …Ella Taylor
(figurative) Control was always Jobs' approach to achieving excellence—Apple's beautiful, hermetically sealed ecosystem of products is the quintessence of control …Lev Grossman

Examples of hermetically in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web To exist in a world where they are hermetically sealed as just a single shingle for ghost extermination is not genuine after a 40-year span of being a part of New York City’s story. Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Mar. 2024 The villas, which recall small temples with gracefully slanted roofs, are both cozy and user-friendly: With their mechanical sliding doors, they can be hermetically sealed, a practical necessity in a hurricane-prone region. Suleman Anaya Fabian Martinez, New York Times, 20 Sep. 2023 San Francisco’s Robby Thompson and Will Clark would hermetically seal their gloves in freezer bags between games to prevent degradation. Zach Buchanan, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2023 For three years, Hong Kong was hermetically sealed from the world while being roiled by both the pandemic and political protests. Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 July 2023 Not for the first time, the demonstrative cleverness of his storytelling can seem too precise, too hermetically sealed and engineered, for a sense of raw collective devastation to fully take hold. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2023 What’s the deal with the coffee pods? Nespresso pods are made out of aluminum, and they’re hermetically sealed to keep the grounds inside fresh. Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 29 June 2023 The Neuralink 1 implant actually includes multiple chips, a wireless battery and other electronics hermetically sealed within a device about the size of a large coin. Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 9 June 2023 Some people think politics and art should be kept hermetically separate; others can’t look at even the most facile work without forcing some political meaning on it. Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 May 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hermetically.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1605, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hermetically was in 1605

Dictionary Entries Near hermetically

Cite this Entry

“Hermetically.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hermetically. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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