Meaning & use
hermetically sealed
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparabletechnical
Closed so tightly that no air, moisture or other substance can get in or out.
Grammar: Usually describes a container, room or package: a hermetically sealed jar. It can also follow a verb: the lid was hermetically sealed.
Patterns
- hermetically sealed container
- hermetically sealed from something
The lab kept the samples in hermetically sealed glass tubes.
Food in hermetically sealed packages can last for years without spoiling.
The old manuscript was stored in a hermetically sealed case to protect it from damp.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Completely cut off from outside influence, contact or information, so that nothing from outside reaches it.
Grammar: Used figuratively for groups or environments: a hermetically sealed community.
Patterns
- hermetically sealed from something
The royal court was hermetically sealed from the anger of ordinary citizens.
He lived in a hermetically sealed world of wealth and never saw the city's problems.
Common combinations
- hermetically sealed container
- Store the powder in a hermetically sealed container.
- hermetically sealed packaging
- The medicine arrives in hermetically sealed packaging.
- hermetically sealed room
- The vault is a hermetically sealed room kept at constant temperature.
- hermetically sealed environment
- Astronauts live in a hermetically sealed environment.
- hermetically sealed from
- The company culture was hermetically sealed from outside ideas.
Synonyms and how they differ
- airtight
- Airtight is the everyday word and mentions only air, while hermetically sealed sounds more technical and suggests a complete seal.
- watertight
- Watertight only guarantees that liquid cannot pass, so it is narrower than hermetically sealed.
- sealed
- Sealed just means closed, with no promise that nothing can leak, unlike hermetically sealed.
- impermeable
- Impermeable describes a material that does not let substances through, not a container that has been closed.
Opposites
Word family
- hermetic adjective
- completely sealed, or (of ideas) obscure and hard to reach
- hermetically adverb
- in a way that is completely airtight
- seal verb
- to close something tightly
- sealant noun
- a substance used to close gaps
Commonly confused: hermetically sealed or hermit?
hermetically sealed vs hermit
A hermit is a person living alone away from society; the words look similar but hermetic has nothing to do with people.
Practice
To keep the seeds fresh for decades, the scientists stored them in a ___ vault.
Choose one answer.
Hermetically sealed means no air or moisture can enter, which preserves seeds. The other options would let in air or damp and so would not preserve them.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hermetically sealed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.