grammatical
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to grammar.
grammatical analysis.
-
conforming to standard usage.
grammatical speech.
adjective
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of or relating to grammar
-
(of a sentence) well formed; regarded as correct and acceptable by native speakers of the language
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of grammatical
1520–30; < Latin grammatic ( us ) (< Greek grammatikós knowing one's letters, equivalent to grammat-, stem of grámma letter + -ikos -ic ) + -al 1
Explanation
If your know-it-all friend advises you not to say, "Me and John went...," she is giving you grammatical advice. In other words, she's correcting your terrible grammar. (BTW, it should be "John and I...") The adjective grammatical comes up most often in English classes, since it describes anything having to do with parts of speech, syntax, and other elements of a well-written sentence. The Latin root word is grammaticalis, meaning "of a scholar," which in turn comes from the word grammaticus, "pertaining to grammar." If you're an authority on the English language, you can feel free to describe yourself as a grammatical scholar.
Vocabulary lists containing grammatical
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gram
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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.
Despite the enormous variety of languages spoken around the world, certain grammatical patterns keep showing up.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 5, 2026
The grammatical solecism of the title isn’t the only vaguely—or not so vaguely—irksome element of “The Disappear,” a new play written and directed by Erica Schmidt being presented at the Minetta Lane Theatre.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
AI is also more likely to create lyrics that follow a correct grammatical structure, says Rich, whereas some of the most beautiful or memorable words penned by humans don't always make sense.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2025
Director Lynne Ramsay has no patience for grammatical formalities and her latest burns with the punk ferocity of her finest film, 2002’s “Morvern Callar.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
I refer to the “double possessive”, which is evidently a perfecdy respectable grammatical construction, but simply jars with me, and perhaps always will.
From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author
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.
