adjective
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Etymology
Origin of electoral
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Explanation
The adjective electoral describes anything having to do with elections. When people talk about "electoral reform," they're referring to changing the way political elections work. When you see the word electoral, you can be sure that the subject is politics and elections. An electoral district, for example, is a specific geographic area that elects a representative or has its votes counted separately, and electoral fraud means rigging votes or interfering with the process of an election. Electoral comes from the noun elector, or "voter in an election." In Latin, it means "chooser or selector," from the root eligere, "select."
Vocabulary lists containing electoral
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.
This means that it has been able to submit its slate of presidential and parliamentary candidates to the electoral commission leaving the rival faction without any representatives on the ballot.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Our water system’s decentralized, fragmented nature, perhaps a bit like our electoral system, is a double-edged sword, inasmuch as its vulnerabilities are atomized—at least a single hacker can’t contaminate all the water in the country.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema won re-election with around 60 percent of votes cast last week, the electoral commission announced Tuesday, after a race critics said was tightly managed by his government.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Proposition 40’s failure to crack 50% support among voters at this point in the electoral cycle is a potential red flag, said IGS poll director Mark DiCamillo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Jaime had first seen him behind his father’s back, when the Candidate rode the trains of victory in a cloud of smoke during the electoral campaigns of his youth.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
