adjective
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providing knowledge; instructive or informative
an educational toy
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of or relating to education
Other Word Forms
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countereducationalnoun
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antieducationaladjective
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noneducationaladjective
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posteducationaladjective
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preeducationaladjective
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pseudoeducationaladjective
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quasi-educationaladjective
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antieducationallyadverb
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countereducationallyadverb
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educationallyadverb
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noneducationallyadverb
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preeducationallyadverb
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pseudoeducationallyadverb
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quasi-educationallyadverb
Etymology
Origin of educational
Explanation
If something is educational, it teaches you some new information or gives you new knowledge. Listening to an organic farmer describe the process of beekeeping can be very educational. The adjective educational describes something that imparts new skills or knowledge. Reading a recipe is educational, if it teaches you how to make a perfect buttercream frosting for your cake, and a French class is also educational, as long as you learn something new from it. The word comes from the noun education, or "the process of teaching or learning," which actually meant "childrearing" in the 1500s, and was used interchangeably to mean "the training of animals."
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.
“It was an educational experience,” one reader wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
FCMAT’s job is to help educational agencies prevent and resolve financial and other problems.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Headteachers of some Jewish schools are spending more of their time dealing with security arrangements than on educational matters, a review into antisemitism in schools and colleges has found.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
I made all his educational software for 110,000 school buildings.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Once he was inside the arcade, Kyle’s ears were bombarded by the blare, buzz, and bells of three dozen educational video games.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
