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 • Jun. 18, 2024

Taipei has its flaws—scenes in the first act can feel repetitive and drawn out, as if overly faithful to the author’s memory, and some sentences are weighed down with adverbial excess.

From Slate • Jun. 7, 2013

In “The shorter the better,” the the is actually a holdover from an old adverbial form meaning “in that” or “by that” that we also see in “none the less” and “so much the better.”

From Salon • Apr. 18, 2013

An adverbial modifier that shades the meaning of a statement.

From The Guardian • Jul. 16, 2012

The s is adverbial, orig. a genitive ending.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah