traditional
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., handed down from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice.
While in Kyoto I experienced a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
We use only traditional, time-tested methods to make our wines.
They gave us a book of traditional stories from the Inuit culture.
- Synonyms:
- established, customary, conventional
-
in accordance with customs or beliefs handed down from generation to generation.
It is traditional in some cultures for the bride to be given away by her father.
- Synonyms:
- established, customary, conventional
-
designating any of various Indigenous or folk religions that do not have a primary founder, written scriptures, or buildings for public worship, and that revolve around practice, ritual, and ceremony rather than systems of doctrine or belief.
Many of our First Peoples, especially those living on treaty lands, continue to practice traditional religion.
-
(of a person) adhering or conforming to customs, beliefs, values, etc., handed down from generation to generation; preferring what is old or long established; old-fashioned.
My mom and dad are very traditional and often clash with modern expectations.
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of the older styles of jazz, especially New Orleans style, Chicago style, Kansas City style, and Dixieland.
adjective
-
of, relating to, or being a tradition
-
of or relating to the style of jazz originating in New Orleans, characterized by collective improvisation by a front line of trumpet, trombone, and clarinet accompanied by various rhythm instruments
Other Word Forms
- antitraditional adjective
- antitraditionally adverb
- nontraditional adjective
- nontraditionally adverb
- nontraditionary adjective
- pretraditional adjective
- protraditional adjective
- quasi-traditional adjective
- quasi-traditionally adverb
- semitraditional adjective
- semitraditionally adverb
- traditionality noun
- traditionally adverb
- untraditional adjective
- untraditionally adverb
Etymology
Origin of traditional
First recorded in 1585–95; from Medieval Latin trāditiōnālis; equivalent to tradition + -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.
Brighton have been picked just once, with eight home fixtures in the traditional slot.
From BBC
Some investors are worried that Oracle’s cloud business, which sells compute to customers like OpenAI, will carry fundamentally lower margins than its traditional software business.
From MarketWatch
After all, traditional education requires students to sit still and read books; how different could a computer be?
From Salon
The U.S. and other nations know they need to buy cheaper munitions, and are looking outside the traditional defense industry to do so.
Across the nation families and friends rolled out blankets and tarpaulins at parks, temples and even cemeteries over the weekend to eat and drink under cherry trees for traditional "hanami" or flower viewing gatherings.
From Barron's
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.
