What does antigravity mean?
Antigravity is a noun denoting a hypothetical force or effect that would counteract or reverse gravity, causing matter to be repelled from, or to float above, a massive body rather than drawn toward it. Although the term appears frequently in physics discussions, popular science, and above all science fiction, no experiment has ever confirmed the existence of genuine antigravity, and Einstein's general theory of relativity offers no mechanism for it. In everyday usage the word often stands in loosely for any sensation or technology of levitation — hovering vehicles, floating astronauts, or magnetic levitation devices — even when the underlying physics involves something other than a true reversal of gravity. Its connotations are futuristic and speculative, evoking flying cars, space elevators, and frictionless travel. Related but distinct ideas include weightlessness, which describes the absence of felt weight, and microgravity, the near-weightless environment of orbit. As a word, antigravity combines the prefix anti- (against) with gravity, and its enduring appeal lies less in established science than in humanity's persistent dream of escaping the pull that binds us to Earth.
nounA hypothetical force or effect that counteracts or reverses the pull of gravity, causing objects to be repelled from or levitated above a gravitational source.
- A hypothetical force or field that repels rather than attracts mass, opposing the effects of gravity.
- In popular usage and fiction, any technology or phenomenon that produces apparent levitation or freedom from gravity.
"The science-fiction film imagined a future in which antigravity had made aircraft obsolete."
"Engineers at the lab joked that their new suspension system felt like antigravity, though it was really just clever magnetism."
"In the novel, ships glided silently through space powered by antigravity drives."
The plural is rare because antigravity usually denotes a single hypothetical force; when multiple distinct mechanisms are discussed, writers more often say 'antigravity effects' or 'antigravity devices'.
"Theorists have proposed several possible antigravities, each arising from a different extension of known physics."
Despite more than a century of speculation and countless sci-fi stories, no experiment has ever demonstrated true antigravity — yet the word has been part of physics discussions since the late 1800s.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of antigravity
The word antigravity is formed from the Greek-derived prefix anti-, meaning 'against' or 'opposite', combined with gravity, which traces back through French gravité to Latin gravitas, meaning 'heaviness' or 'weight', from gravis ('heavy'). The compound emerged in English scientific writing in the late nineteenth century as physicists began speculating about forces that might oppose gravitation. It shares its Latin root with words such as gravitate, aggravate, and grave, all ultimately descended from the Proto-Indo-European root *gwerh₂- ('heavy').
Related word forms
How antigravity is actually used
Antigravity is used almost entirely in scientific speculation, popular science writing, and science fiction; mainstream physics treats it as unproven or impossible under general relativity. The word carries a futuristic, imaginative connotation and should not be confused with established phenomena like microgravity or magnetic levitation.
Easily confused with antigravity
Gravity is the real force that attracts masses toward each other, while antigravity is a hypothetical force that would oppose or reverse it.
Weightlessness is the actual condition of experiencing no apparent weight, such as in orbit, whereas antigravity refers to a conjectured force that would actively repel objects.