ritual

American  

[rich-oo-uhl] / ˈrɪtʃ u əl /

noun

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

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

Etymology

Origin of ritual

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

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

Ritual, as mentioned, which in baseball includes the national anthem, first pitch, seventh-inning stretch, etc.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

Ritual that burdens most those least equipped to perform it.

From Slate • Jun. 16, 2025

"The Ritual" does not identify Anna by that pseudonym, of course.

From Salon • Jun. 6, 2025

Among the many activities that day will be a Rage Ritual, during which participants collectively scream and thrash around enormous sticks as Magik guides them in releasing pent-up emotions.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2025

Ritual and ethical absention and the use of contraceptive drugs seem to have played the major part in maintaining this stability.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

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