hypersonic

Etymology

hyper- + sonic. Doublet of supersonic.

adj

  1. (of a speed, aviation) Equal to, or greater than, or capable of achieving, five times the speed of sound.
    He said there was worry among intelligence and military officials that China or Russia could be experimenting with hypersonic technology. 2021-06-03, Julian E. Barnes, Helene Cooper, “U.S. Finds No Evidence of Alien Technology in Flying Objects, but Can’t Rule It Out, Either”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
  2. (of a speed, aeronautics) Far enough above the speed of sound as to cause significant differences in behaviour due to chemical reactions or dissociation of the air.

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