racial

[ rey-shuhl ]

adjective

1. of or relating to the social construct of race:

   racial diversity;

   racial stereotypes.

2. (no longer in technical use) of, relating to, or characteristic of one race or the races of humankind.

racial

/ ˈreɪʃəl /

adjective

1. denoting or relating to the division of the human species into races on grounds of physical characteristics
2. characteristic of any such group
3. relating to or arising from differences between the races

   racial harmony

4. of or relating to a subspecies

Derived Forms

• ˈracially, adverb

Other Words From

• racial·ly adverb
• anti·racial adjective
• non·racial adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of racial¹

First recorded in 1860–65; race ² + -ial

Example Sentences

That’s really what’s most necessary as a way forward particularly in the moment of racial justice that we’re in as a country.

From Fortune

He might have been better off sticking with the pandemic — cases appear to be flattening out ever so slightly, though thousands of new cases are reported daily — than with the red meat of racial politics.

From FiveThirtyEight

That’s because racism and racial inequity are more than just public policy issues.

From Fortune

As societal attention remains fixed on racial justice, decision-makers are “finding they can do much better” in building businesses that reflect the communities they serve, Heidrick and Struggles’ report says.

From Fortune

Given this summer’s call for social change, the first episode feels especially timely, as Atticus road-trips from Chicago to Massachusetts with the threat of deadly racial violence lurking at every pit stop.

From Outside Online

The attempt to “breed back” the Auroch of Teutonic legend was of a piece with the Nazi obsession with racial purity and eugenics.

From The Daily Beast

It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time.

From The Daily Beast

The state was in a deep recession as Duke galvanized a racial backlash.

From The Daily Beast

This was later repurposed in Europe as an explanation for racial superiority, and the term “Aryan” came to define a white race.

From The Daily Beast

He first rose to prominence as a lawyer in Queens, who settled a boiling racial dispute over public housing in Forest Hills.

From The Daily Beast

Like all racial beauties, bred by selection, she needed the arts of dress and furnishings to frame her.

From Project Gutenberg

Sin Sin Wa performed a curious shrugging movement, peculiarly racial.

From Project Gutenberg

Racial segregation in the public schools of Virginia was provided for in the Constitution of 1902.

From Project Gutenberg

Racial segregation in the public schools of Virginia was constitutionally established in the Underwood Constitution of 1902.

From Project Gutenberg

It was the clutch of something racial and inherited—a something which the Northerner hardly knows.

From Project Gutenberg