functional
capable of operating or functioning: When will the ventilating system be functional again?
having or serving a utilitarian purpose; capable of serving the purpose for which it was designed: functional architecture; a chair that is functional as well as decorative.
Also func·tion·al·is·tic. (of a building or furnishing) constructed or made according to the principles of functionalism or primarily as a direct fulfillment of a material need.
Medicine/Medical. without a known organic cause or structural change: a functional disorder.: Compare organic (def. 5).
pertaining to an algebraic operation: a functional symbol.
Linguistics. (of linguistic analysis, language teaching, etc.) concerned with the communicative role of language rather than, in addition to, or as the framework for its formal structure.
Origin of functional
1Other words from functional
- func·tion·al·i·ty, noun
- func·tion·al·ly, adverb
- hy·per·func·tion·al, adjective
- hy·per·func·tion·al·ly, adverb
- mul·ti·func·tion·al, adjective
- non·func·tion·al, adjective
- non·func·tion·al·ly, adverb
- pre·func·tion·al, adjective
- sem·i·func·tion·al, adjective
- sem·i·func·tion·al·ly, adverb
- sub·func·tion·al, adjective
- sub·func·tion·al·ly, adverb
- su·per·func·tion·al, adjective
- un·func·tion·al, adjective
- un·func·tion·al·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use functional in a sentence
Bags had grown to this enormous monstrosity, wildly unfunctional, akin to tottering around on seven-inch heels.
British Dictionary definitions for functional
/ (ˈfʌŋkʃənəl) /
of, involving, or containing a function or functions
practical rather than decorative; utilitarian: functional architecture
capable of functioning; working
med affecting a function of an organ without structural change
psychol
relating to the purpose or context of a behaviour
denoting a psychosis such as schizophrenia assumed not to have a direct organic cause, like deterioration or poisoning of the brain: Compare organic psychosis
maths a function whose domain is a set of functions and whose range is a set of functions or a set of numbers
Derived forms of functional
- functionally, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for functional
[ fŭngk′shə-nəl ]
Affecting bodily functions but not organic structure, as a disorder such as irritable bowel syndrome. Compare organic.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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