coastal
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of coastal
Explanation
Coastal things are near the ocean. If you like spending time at the beach, you might take a trip to a sunny, coastal vacation spot. Be sure to pack your swimsuit! You might read phrases like "coastal waters" or "coastal erosion" in an environmental science textbook. The coast is the land that borders an ocean or sea, and the adjective coastal describes things that affect the coast or are located there. Before it meant "edge of the land," coast referred to a body part—specifically, the rib or "flank."
Vocabulary lists containing coastal
The United States
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South America - Middle School
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Canada - Introductory
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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.
In Dillingham, a coastal city in Western Alaska, barges have started coming in, and with them, higher fuel prices.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 7, 2026
Those showers are expected to primarily affect coastal areas around Santa Barbara, but it’s possible they could reach Los Angeles as well, he said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 7, 2026
Their third-floor apartment now sits at eye level, crushed under piles of concertinaed concrete slabs from the OPP 26 building in coastal Caraballeda, one of the districts hardest hit by the quakes.
From Barron's • Jul. 6, 2026
The fish taken from west Africa's rich coastal waters is being sold for consumption around the world, he points out.
From BBC • Jul. 5, 2026
They were both Native, but they grew up indifferent coastal communities, on opposite sides of the continent.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
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.
