adverbial

American  

[ad-vur-bee-uhl] / ædˈvɜr bi əl /

adjective

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

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noun

1. a word or phrase functioning as an adverb.

adverbial British  

/ ædˈvɜːbɪəl /

noun

1. a word or group of words playing the grammatical role of an adverb, such as in the rain in the sentence I'm singing in the rain

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adjective

1. of or relating to an adverb or adverbial

Other Word Forms

• adverbially adverb
• nonadverbial adjective
• nonadverbially adverb

Etymology

Origin of adverbial

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin adverbi(um) adverb + -al ¹; compare Late Latin adverbiālis

Example Sentences

"Interestingly, low scoring essays showed the highest level of complexity in finite adverbial dependent clauses," the linguist writes in her paper.

From Science Daily

"This legislative process and the confirmation process, it's adverbial. It's something that unfolds. And that means it changes as people act and react to one another," he told Fox News.

From Fox News

“What is the adverbial phrase ‘of course’ but a smug duo dropped in to congratulate writer and reader for already agreeing with each other,” writes Christian Lorentzen for Vulture, joining King’s abolition crusade.

From The Guardian

The italics emphasizing the adverbial form of “short” were left to interpretation.

From New York Times

It is an acceptable adverbial use of the adjective “big,” according to Merriam-Webster, a dictionary company that has embraced social media and has tweeted witty observations about the two candidates’ elocutions throughout the campaign.

From New York Times