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ritual

American  

[rich-oo-uhl] / ˈrɪtʃ u əl /

noun

• rituals
  plural

1. 

   an established or prescribed procedure for a religious or other rite.

2. a system or collection of religious or other rites.

3. observance of set forms in public worship.

4. a book of rites or ceremonies.

5. a book containing the offices to be used by priests in administering the sacraments and for visitation of the sick, burial of the dead, etc.

6. a prescribed or established rite, ceremony, proceeding, or service.

   the ritual of the dead.

7. prescribed, established, or ceremonial acts or features collectively, as in religious services.

8. any practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner.

9. a prescribed code of behavior regulating social conduct, as that exemplified by the raising of one's hat or the shaking of hands in greeting.

10. Psychiatry. a specific act, as hand-washing, performed repetitively to a pathological degree, occurring as a common symptom of obsessive-compulsive neurosis.

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adjective

1. of the nature of or practiced as a rite or ritual.

   a ritual dance.

   Synonyms:

   sacramental, formal, ceremonial

2. of or relating to rites or ritual.

   ritual laws.

ritual British  

/ ˈrɪtjʊəl /

noun

1. the prescribed or established form of a religious or other ceremony

2. such prescribed forms in general or collectively

3. stereotyped activity or behaviour

4. psychol any repetitive behaviour, such as hand-washing, performed by a person with a compulsive personality disorder

5. any formal act, institution, or procedure that is followed consistently

   the ritual of the law

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of religious, social, or other rituals

Synonym Usage

See ceremony.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antiritual
  adjective
• proritual
  adjective
• unritual
  adjective
• ritually
  adverb
• unritually
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• rituals
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of ritual

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin rītuālis, from rītu(s) rite + -ālis -al ¹

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Explanation

A ritual is a ceremony or action performed in a customary way. Your family might have a Saturday night ritual of eating a big spaghetti dinner and then taking a long walk to the ice cream shop. As an adjective, ritual means "conforming to religious rites," which are the sacred, customary ways of celebrating a religion or culture. Different communities have different ritual practices, like meditation in Buddhism, or baptism in Christianity. We also call the ceremony itself a ritual. Although it comes from religious ceremonies, ritual can also be used for any time-honored tradition, like the Superbowl, or Mardi Gras, or Sunday morning pancake breakfast.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ritual rituals

"Do we adapt the visit to the ritual, or does the ritual adapt to the visitor?"

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026

“There’s just been too much to do,” Roy said of the chrome gel ritual she inaugurated as a volunteer for Eunisses Hernandez in 2022.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

For Jourdain Yardan, golfing at the East Potomac Golf Links on Washington DC's waterfront is a twice-weekly ritual.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

"It's a ritual that's heavily prescribed by church regulation," Bishop Deenihan said.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

I found her dignified ritual riveting, but when the spell was broken I realized that I needed to get going myself.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

The practice echoes the burning of incense in Buddhist rituals, though pine's sharp natural scent makes it stand out from the aromatic powders used in joss sticks.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

Voda Spa pairs traditional Russian bathhouse rituals with a contemporary approach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

The film’s multigenerational story touches on the cultural inheritance passed between mothers, daughters and grandmothers — whether through old traditions or ordinary rituals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

These rituals won’t end disease or suffering, but they aren’t trivial.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

I think of this as I go through the rituals of a Sunday morning at church.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

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Related Words

• act
• custom
• formality
• habit
• liturgy
• observance
• practice
• procedure
• rite
• routine
• stereotype

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