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behavioral

American  
[bih-heyv-yer-uhl] / bɪˈheɪv yər əl /
especially British, behavioural

adjective

  1. relating to a person’s manner of behaving or acting.

    The program provides academic and behavioral supports for students of concern.

    Most of our biggest health risks are largely preventable with behavioral change.

  2. Psychology, Animal Behavior. relating to or studying observable activity in a human or animal, often thought of as the aggregate of responses to external and internal stimuli.

    This psychiatry textbook offers a thorough discussion of both the behavioral sciences and clinical psychiatry.

    Harassment of wild marine mammals has disrupted their behavioral patterns, including migration, breeding, and feeding.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of behavioral

First recorded in 1925–30; behavior ( def. ) + -al 1 ( def. )

Vocabulary lists containing behavioral

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.

Behavioral testing showed that treated models performed significantly better on memory and recognition tasks.

From Science Daily • May 26, 2026

Behavioral tests supported that conclusion, showing that obese mice were less responsive to sensory stimulation compared to lean mice.

From Science Daily • May 23, 2026

Kevin can now string together words and has improved understanding between him and family members after years of behavioral and speech therapy supported by Applied Behavioral Analysis, the science of learning and behavior.

From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026

Behavioral subscription revenue, which makes up a bigger portion of total sales, fell 18%, dragging overall subscription revenue down 9.6%.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

I left the Behavioral Center with the tape and with a very bad feeling.

From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg

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