bionic

/baɪˈɑnɪk/

/baɪˈɒnɪk/

Other forms: bionics

Something that's bionic is artificial but made to work as if it were real. Some people with vision loss have had bionic eyes implanted to restore their sight.

In medicine, bionic devices are used to replace missing or failing body parts. These are different from prostheses, or artificial limbs, because they copy exactly (or even exceed) the biology of the original part. Bionic body parts first entered popular culture in the 1970s, when the TV show The Six Million Dollar Man told the story of an injured astronaut whose bionic implants (a bionic eye, legs, and arm) gave him superhuman powers.

Definitions of bionic

1. adjective

   of or relating to bionics
2. adjective

   having particular physiological functions augmented or replaced by electronic or electromechanical components
   synonyms:

   artificial, unreal

   contrived by art rather than nature