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.
The law includes several exemptions, including for institutional and educational firms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
“Indeed, true laïcité doesn’t exclude religion but is capable of valuing it as an educational resource.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
Maintaining their joy, then, is seen as both an educational priority and an act of resistance.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026
Participants were followed for as long as three decades, allowing the team to investigate whether these infections were associated with later neurodevelopmental diagnoses and educational outcomes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
“Why don’t you wait for Dr. Martin in the educational room?”
From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers
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.
