adjectival

[aj-ik-tahy-vuhl]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or used as an adjective.

2. describing by means of many adjectives; depending for effect on intensive qualification of subject matter, as a writer, style, or essay.

Other Word Forms

• adjectivally adverb
• nonadjectival adjective
• nonadjectivally adverb
• preadjectival adjective
• preadjectivally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of adjectival¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; adjective + -al ¹

Example Sentences

“Going Dutch” is a contemporary military workplace family comedy, not necessarily in that adjectival order.

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Dederer is continually trying — not in the adjectival sense, but as the present participle: showing us her thought process, correcting as she goes and experimenting with different forms.

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Many verb and adjectival forms being feminine, regular mention of captivity, and recurring names - such as Walsingham - all put them on the trail of Mary.

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They complain that some playwrights, like Pinter, got the classier adjectival ending “-esque” even as they each wound up with “-ian.”

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“Children are a crushing responsibility,” Leda tells Callie at one point, Colman’s steady gaze and adjectival emphasis only heightening her character’s allure.

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