How to Use optical in a Sentence

optical

adjective
  • The company manufactures microscopes, telescopes, and other optical instruments.
  • And its optical zoom that can go a wee bit further to bring your scene closer.
    — Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2020
  • Right now, optical is a red-hot corner of the data center trade.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2026
  • There are other great new features, though none as unique as the genuine optical zoom.
    — David Phelan, Forbes, 14 May 2022
  • Shapes ride flat on the painting’s surface, but a shallow optical space opens up.
    — Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2021
  • Through this great optical telescope he was said to have seen amazing sights on the moon’s surface.
    — Elvia Limón, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2022
  • The tradeoff is the lack of secondary hard-drive or optical-drive options.
    — Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 23 Oct. 2018
  • The idea is to shine a high-quality laser beam through one of the optical fibres in the cable.
    — The Economist, 16 June 2018
  • The team brought the system closer to the precision of state-of-the-art optical clocks.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 4 Apr. 2026
  • There are 100x optical zoom lenses out in the world—some even go beyond that.
    — Popular Science, 12 Feb. 2020
  • The researchers came up with the optical surface design of the nano camera.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 1 Dec. 2021
  • The rear camera has jumped from 8 megapixels to 12, with no optical zoom.
    — Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 27 Oct. 2022
  • The chain offers fresh food and a full-service deli as well as optical and tire services and on-site gas stations.
    — Leada Gore | [email protected], al, 15 Aug. 2022
  • The mind’s eye, Hall is well aware, can be full of optical illusions and false promise.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 15 May 2021
  • Together the researchers traced the optical effects to nano-sized scales in the moths' wings.
    — Harini Barath, Scientific American, 23 Dec. 2019
  • Ciena sells a variety of products for high-speed fiber optical networks.
    — Jordan Novet, CNBC, 5 Feb. 2026
  • As always, never look at the sun without proper optical aid!
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 8 Jan. 2026
  • The line of optical styles features sleek basics and statement shapes, which take cues from (and are named after) retro cars.
    — Christian Allaire, Vogue, 6 Oct. 2021
  • This gives it more room to move the elements around and enables true 5X optical zoom.
    — Popular Science, 18 Aug. 2020
  • The camera can zoom to 2x with optical zoom, or 4x with digital zoom.
    — Christian De Looper, BGR, 1 June 2022
  • These optical-illusion tights are one of my favorite party tricks.
    — Annie Blackman, InStyle, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Sign up for an evening star party to learn about the night sky and look through the observatory’s optical aids.
    — Stephanie Vermillion, Outside, 23 Mar. 2026
  • In some cases, optical brighteners are added to make the white fabric appear even brighter.
    — Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 20 Jan. 2026
  • Those who would like to see Uranus and Neptune will need optical assistance.
    — Julia Gomez, USA Today, 1 Feb. 2026
  • From a dark site, the cluster is visible as a hazy patch to the naked eye, but urban dwellers can get a nice view with a bit of optical aid.
    — Geoff Chester, Washington Post, 1 June 2023
  • Between the mouse’s primary clickers is the optical scroll wheel.
    — Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Bring the camera up to your eye and peer through the optical viewfinder to set your frame, and press the shutter button to take a photo.
    — Jim Fisher, PC Magazine, 17 Mar. 2026
  • If the optical zoom is important to you, the Pixel 7 Pro is the way to go.
    — Dave Leclair, PCMAG, 12 May 2023
  • Dumping the fuel appeared to be aimed at blinding the drone’s optical instruments to drive it from the area.
    — Karl Ritter, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Mar. 2023
  • This places it among the fastest chip-scale optical wireless transmitters demonstrated so far.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 31 Mar. 2026

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

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