collegial
Americanadjective
-
of or characterized by the collective responsibility shared by each of a group of colleagues, with minimal supervision from above.
adjective
-
of or relating to a college
-
having authority or power shared among a number of people associated as colleagues
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of collegial
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English word from Latin word collēgiālis. See college, -al 1
Explanation
Collegial is an adjective describing a work environment where responsibility and authority is shared equally by colleagues. You know you work in a collegial environment when your co-workers smile at you, and you don’t have to hide from your supervisor. Sharing its origins with college and colleague, collegial has senses relating to both words. A collegial office describes the shared responsibility or congenial relationship of colleagues, meaning people who happily or pleasantly work together. The word collegial can also be a synonym for collegiate, describing something that is like or typical of colleges or colleges students. But no frat parties at the office, okay? That may be collegiate, but it doesn’t always lead to collegial behavior.
Vocabulary lists containing collegial
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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.
Then assemble a group of very bright, hardworking, collegial, honest people and lead that team.
From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026
Yet Gutierrez’s fireside chat with OpenAI’s intellectual property and content chief Tom Rubin was collegial, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
The conversations were collegial, but at the end of it, they don’t trust me, or they don’t trust people in public health, because they think that we’re lying to them.
From Slate • Dec. 4, 2025
When he first donned black judicial robes, he became the junior member of a collegial unit that worked hard to find consensus, former justices said.
From Salon • Oct. 31, 2025
But the AEC’s dream of thermonuclear research blooming via a collegial relationship between Los Alamos and Livermore proved chimerical.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
