clinical
Americanadjective
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pertaining to a clinic.
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concerned with or based on actual observation and treatment of disease in patients rather than experimentation or theory.
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extremely objective and realistic; dispassionately analytic; unemotionally critical.
She regarded him with clinical detachment.
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pertaining to or used in a sickroom.
a clinical bandage.
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Ecclesiastical.
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(of a sacrament) administered on a deathbed or sickbed.
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(of a convert or conversion) made on a deathbed or sickbed.
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adjective
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of or relating to a clinic
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of or relating to the bedside of a patient, the course of his disease, or the observation and treatment of patients directly
a clinical lecture
clinical medicine
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scientifically detached; strictly objective
a clinical attitude to life
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plain, simple, and usually unattractive
clinical furniture
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of clinical
Explanation
Something that's clinical is based on or connected to the study of patients. Clinical medications have actually been used by real people, not just studied theoretically. When you hear about clinical drug trials, you'll know there are patients taking them and being observed — this type of test can be called clinical research. Another way to use this adjective is to mean "emotionally cold" or "impersonal." If you have a choice between a detached, clinical French teacher and a warm, charming one, you might be more likely to choose the latter. This second meaning of clinical, from the mid-1920s, originally meant "as unemotional as a medical report."
Vocabulary lists containing clinical
"The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury
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Just Mercy
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National Nurses Week: Common Medical Terms
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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.
Clinical psychologists Hillary Halpern and Maureen Perry-Jenkins documented that the transition from single life to fatherhood is often accompanied by a roller coaster of emotions.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026
Early-stage data for GSK’s drug candidate IDRx-42 presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting showed potential as a first-line treatment for gastrointestinal cancer, Jefferies says.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026
The results were presented during a session at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago on Sunday.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 1, 2026
"Clinical trials generally identify the most dangerous side effects of drugs," says Ungar.
From Science Daily • May 24, 2026
He’s a patient in Clinical Trial Number 366.They told me to call if he ...OK,
From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick
Definitions 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.
