biographical
Americanadjective
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of or relating to a person's life.
He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
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pertaining to or containing biography.
a biographical dictionary.
Other Word Forms
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nonbiographicaladjective
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pseudobiographicadjective
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pseudobiographicaladjective
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quasi-biographicaladjective
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semibiographicadjective
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semibiographicaladjective
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unbiographicaladjective
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biographicallyadverb
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nonbiographicallyadverb
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pseudobiographicallyadverb
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quasi-biographicallyadverb
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semibiographicallyadverb
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unbiographicallyadverb
Etymology
Origin of biographical
First recorded in 1730–40; biograph(y) + -ical
Explanation
Anything biographical has to do with the story of someone's life. If you're reading a biography of Margaret Mead, you might enjoy learning biographical details, like that she was the oldest of five children. A biography is a book about someone's life. Anything biographical can be from a biography, as in an actual book about someone, or just facts from a person’s life. Biographical information could be where someone is from, where they grew up, where they went to college, or when they became famous. Biographies are usually written about famous people, but everyone has biographical details about their own lives, too.
Vocabulary lists containing biographical
Words to Live By: Bio
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Literary Terms, Grade 6, Unit 1
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List 6
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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.
The scandal fueled a media circus and was chronicled in a book, multiple podcasts, and the biographical mini-series "The Dropout" that starred Amanda Seyfried.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
He also contributed reporting and writing to Trump Revealed, a best-selling biographical investigation of the then-candidate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Since Meredith Kercher's death, Knox has written two books about her imprisonment and served as an executive producer on the biographical drama The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
If every Miyazaki movie has a whiff of biographical relevance, one might see “Kiki’s Delivery Service” as his statement of creative purpose and motivation.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
The item offered a few biographical details, among them the fact that Emeline once had been employed as a stenographer in the county recorder’s office.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
