tribal
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or characteristic of a tribe.
tribal customs in Indonesia.
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designating, characterized by, or relating to a strong sense of loyalty to one’s own tribe, party, or group.
Tribal politics can be divisive and counterproductive.
adjective
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of or denoting a tribe or tribes
tribal chiefs in northern Yemen
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displaying loyalty to a tribe, group, or tribal values
the tribal loyalties of Labour MPs
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tribal
Explanation
Tribal things have something to do with a group or tribe, like Native Americans' tribal land, where certain tribes lived for thousands of years. You might have heard the term "tribal sovereignty" before — it's basically the legal right of indigenous or native people to govern themselves under certain conditions. In the United States, for example, tribal groups are recognized as "domestic dependent nations." Sometimes the adjective tribal is slightly derogatory, but only when it's used to mean "overly loyal to a group."
Vocabulary lists containing tribal
"Black Panther" Lingo
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -al, -ial
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TKAM excerpt
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Washington will be represented by Usha-Maria Turner, assistant administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs at the US Environmental Protection Agency.
From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026
“Partnerships with Tribal Nations,” the strategy said, “can propel our mission forward.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026
Tribal leaders said a witness, another tribe member, saw the men detained and identified them as part of the Oglala Sioux.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026
Tribal elders suggested Wo'aabi, an Indigenous word meaning "worm."
From Science Daily • Jan. 10, 2026
Leahy, the prosecutor who had been hired by the Osage Tribal Council, considered all this to be the most “high-handed and unusual course of conduct I had ever witnessed on the part of attorneys.”
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
