regional
Americanadjective
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of or relating to a region of considerable extent; not merely local.
a regional meeting of the Boy Scouts.
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of or relating to a particular region, district, area, or part, as of a country; sectional; local.
regional differences in pronunciation.
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Medicine/Medical, Anatomy. pertaining to, affecting, or localized in a particular area or part of the body.
regional anesthesia.
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having, exhibiting, or characterized by regionalism.
He writes regional novels.
noun
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Often regionals. a regional competition or tournament.
The basketball team won the regionals.
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a regional company, branch, stock exchange, etc..
Regionals are getting stiff competition from the national firms.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of regional
From the Latin word regiōnālis, dating back to 1645–55. See region, -al 1
Explanation
Regional is bigger than local and smaller than national. The local weather forecast covers your city and perhaps a few suburbs; the regional forecast gives you more: maybe a slew of counties, maybe the whole state, maybe even several states. People who write dictionaries like to think of regional as being a precise term, having to do with well-defined geographic and cultural areas within larger nations: like regional cuisines, regional customs and even, in places like the Great Lakes, regional weather patterns. But lots of times regional is fuzzier than that. A regional high school has students from more than one town, but just how many towns depends on other factors — the local political structure, the number of kids in the area, and the like.
Vocabulary lists containing regional
Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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The Syrian Refugee Crisis Continues
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Geography and World Regions
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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.
But the Houthis also operate as part of a network of Iran-backed regional militias that share know-how, weaponry, personnel and goals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
The militants began building up positions threatening the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb in several locations, deploying missiles and radars with help from Revolutionary Guard officers inside Yemen, people briefed on regional intelligence said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
"I want us to design a new model together of regional economic empowerment across Scotland, one that puts control in the hands of local people."
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Syerleena urged accountability at a regional level, with companies linked to burning held responsible whether they are Indonesian, Malaysian or Singaporean.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The teacher recognized my extraordinary talent, lined up a few regional matches, and one thing led to another.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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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.
