conditional

American  

[kuhn-dish-uh-nl] / kənˈdɪʃ ə nl /

adjective

1. imposing, containing, subject to, or depending on a condition or conditions; not absolute; made or allowed on certain terms.

   conditional acceptance.

   Synonyms:

   relative, contingent, dependent

2. Grammar. (of a sentence, clause, mood, or word) involving or expressing a condition, as the first clause in the sentence If it rains, he won't go.

3. Logic.

   1. (of a proposition) asserting that the existence or occurrence of one thing or event depends on the existence or occurrence of another thing or event; hypothetical.

   2. (of a syllogism) containing at least one conditional proposition as a premise.

4. Mathematics. (of an inequality) true for only certain values of the variable, as x + 3 > 0 is only true for real numbers greater than −3.

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noun

conditionals plural

1. Grammar.

   1. (in some languages) a mood, tense, or other category used in expressing conditions, often corresponding to an English verb phrase beginning with would, as Spanish comería “he would eat.”

   2. a sentence, clause, or word expressing a condition.

conditional British  

/ kənˈdɪʃənəl /

adjective

1. depending on other factors; not certain

2. grammar (of a clause, conjunction, form of a verb, or whole sentence) expressing a condition on which something else is contingent: " If he comes " is a conditional clause in the sentence " If he comes I shall go "

3. 1. (of an equation or inequality) true for only certain values of the variable: x ² –1 = x + 1 is a conditional equation, only true for x = 2 or –1

   2. (of an infinite series) divergent when the absolute values of the terms are considered

4. Also: hypothetical.  logic (of a proposition) consisting of two component propositions associated by the words if…then so that the proposition is false only when the antecedent is true and the consequent false. Usually written: p → q or p ⊃ q, where p is the antecedent, q the consequent, and → or ⊃ symbolizes implies

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noun

1. grammar

   1. a conditional form of a verb

   2. a conditional clause or sentence

2. logic a conditional proposition

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• conditionality
  noun
• nonconditional
  adjective
• conditionally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• conditionals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of conditional

1350–1400; Middle English condicionel < Anglo-French, Middle French < Late Latin condiciōnālis, equivalent to condiciōn- (stem of condiciō ) condition + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

Something conditional is dependent on other factors. You might receive a conditional offer of acceptance from a college, depending on your high school graduation and your maintaining passing grades. For a clue to the meaning of conditional, look at an opposing term: unconditional surrender, which means someone surrenders and doesn't ask for anything in return. In a conditional surrender, someone will give up only if certain things happen. A conditional agreement is dependent on other factors: a company could make a conditional hire, meaning they'll hire you only if you finish your degree and take a blood test. When you see the word conditional, think "It depends."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conditional conditionals

Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the UK, has been granted a posthumous conditional pardon.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

For Mark Rank, the sociologist who's written about this, the Dream, even if more conditional than before, is still alive.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

You can’t simultaneously signal that existing commitments are conditional and expect others to bind themselves to new ones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

County certified 2,227,461 vote-by-mail, in-person, conditional and provisional ballots.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

I want to thank you very much for everything you have taught Oskar, particularly the conditional tense, which is weird.

From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer

"They also can repair damage to their DNA caused by radiation and other extreme conditionals or chemicals."

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2024

In the courtroom his lawyer read out a carefully written, complicated text, full of caveats, conditionals and the passive voice.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2023

All conditionals include two components—that which follows the “if” and that which follows the “then.”

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

“What Slavic 101 couldn’t name didn’t exist,” Batuman writes; Nina’s reality remains untroubled by conditionals and subjunctives.

From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2017

Remote conditionals are the finicky ones, though their demands, as we shall see, are not as arbitrary as they at first seem.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• limited
• provisional
• restrictive
• tentative