conventional
Americanadjective
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conforming or adhering to accepted standards, as of conduct or taste.
conventional behavior.
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pertaining to convention or general agreement; established by general consent or accepted usage; arbitrarily determined.
conventional symbols.
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ordinary rather than different or original.
conventional phraseology.
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not using, making, or involving nuclear weapons or energy; nonnuclear.
conventional warfare.
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Art.
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in accordance with an accepted manner, model, or tradition.
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(of figurative art) represented in a generalized or simplified manner.
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of or relating to a convention, agreement, or compact.
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Law. resting on consent, express or implied.
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of or relating to a convention or assembly.
adjective
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following the accepted customs and proprieties, esp in a way that lacks originality
conventional habits
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established by accepted usage or general agreement
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of or relating to a convention or assembly
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law based upon the agreement or consent of parties
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arts represented in a simplified or generalized way; conventionalized
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(of weapons, warfare, etc) not nuclear
noun
Related Words
See formal 1.
Other Word Forms
- anticonventional adjective
- anticonventionalist noun
- anticonventionally adverb
- conventionalist noun
- conventionally adverb
- nonconventional adjective
- nonconventionally adverb
- quasi-conventional adjective
- quasi-conventionally adverb
- semiconventional adjective
- semiconventionally adverb
Etymology
Origin of conventional
From the Late Latin word conventiōnālis, dating back to 1575–85. See convention, -al 1
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.
Germany will sell February 2035- and August 2050-dated green Bunds on Tuesday and February 2036-dated conventional Bunds on Wednesday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
This modeling allowed them to examine temperature, pressure, moisture, texture, volume, and oil content under different conditions, including 2.45 GHz, 5.8 GHz, and conventional frying.
From Science Daily • Apr. 2, 2026
It would be funded by using a mixture of conventional capital, borrowing, and use of the mutual investment model.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026
Claim: “They were also rapidly building a vast stockpile of conventional ballistic missiles and would have soon had missiles that could reach the American homeland, Europe, and virtually any other place on earth.”
From Slate • Apr. 2, 2026
The farther they advanced, the less conventional the signs became.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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.
