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.
For another, Formula 1 and soccer, sports frequently coded as elite and coastal, are experiencing booms of popularity across the country.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
She travelled to Cape Coast Castle, one of the many coastal fortresses that had been run by the British, and where enslaved people were held before enduring the brutal "Middle Passage" to the Americas.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The country's national disaster mitigation agency, known as BNPB, advised people to remain calm and stay away from coastal areas.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The path felt like a magical forested portal far from coastal Alabama where we lived.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
While the savannas and mangroves of coastal southern New Guinea are fairly similar to those of northern Australia, other habitats of the hemi-continents differ in almost all major respects.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
